Articles and Blogs

On October 2, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that a Texas dental practice (“Practice”) will settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) by paying a civil penalty of $10,000 and adopting a corrective action plan. A patient of... READ MORE

 NATIONAL CMS discharge rule requires patient, post-acute care data access Why Amazon Care may be the new model for corporate healthcare How CEOs approach their critical choices: 3 insights CMS releases final discharge planning rule that includes record access requirements CMS Rule: Hospitals to Inform Patients of Post-Acute Quality Data CMS unveils new rules... READ MORE

The Eastern District of Texas affirmed the Government’s right to dismiss FCA actions over a whistleblower’s objections. The Court held that the Government may dismiss claims to avoid the costs of extended litigation. The United States Declined to Intervene Health Choice Alliance, LLC filed an FCA action alleging that the defendants defrauded the United... READ MORE

Beginning on November 28, 2019, surveyors will use the requirements detailed in 42 C.F.R. Section 483.80 of the Code of Federal Regulations Requirements for States and Long-Term Care Facilities (“Final Regulations”) to determine whether a skilled nursing facility (“Facility”) has an infection preventionist on staff who is a primary professional trained in nursing, medical... READ MORE

On September 30, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final rule regarding discharge planning (“Final Rule”) addressing care transitions and patient access to medical information. CMS had initially issued the proposed regulations in November 2015 to update discharge planning requirements for hospitals[1], critical access hospitals (“CAHs”) and post-acute care... READ MORE

This fall, a string of state laws limiting the enforceability of noncompete agreements with low-wage workers are beginning to take effect. Six states have passed such laws this year, following a trend that started in Illinois and Massachusetts, including Maine (effective September 19, 2019), Maryland (effective October 1, 2019) and New Hampshire (effective September... READ MORE

On September 4, 2019, a Florida district court rendered a decision that could pose significant compliance concerns for health care entities engaging in debt collection practices under the name of their billing or financial services department. In Smith v. University Community Hospital, Inc. d/b/a Florida Hospital Carrollwood,[1] the court denied a hospital’s motion for... READ MORE

Two recent opinion letters by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) interpret the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to require that whenever an employee takes leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason, the employer must designate such leave as FMLA leave, even if the employee would prefer to “save... READ MORE

In last week’s article, which can be found here, we provided an overview of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (“CCBHC”) pilot program and described the funding challenges that the program has experienced. We noted that the stakes are high and that Congress seems to recognize as much. So, what does the future hold... READ MORE

Another Band-Aid: Congress Clears Continuing Resolution to Avoid Shutdown On Thursday, the Senate cleared legislation (H.R. 4378) by a vote of 82-15 to fund federal agencies and extend several health care-related programs through November 21. The vote on the continuing resolution followed House approval of the measure, which overwhelmingly passed the measure last week.... READ MORE