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The Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the “Common Rule”) regulates the conduct of human subject research supported by federal agencies. On January 19, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), as well as 15 other federal agencies and departments that are subject to the Common Rule, published significant changes to... READ MORE

NATIONAL What are the biggest challenges for telemedicine programs? Still no word on whether CMS will approve lifetime Medicaid limits Alere Pays $33.2M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Nurses continue to push for safe staffing in DC Hospitals embrace interoperability: As data exchange matures, leaders find ways to use it to their advantage... READ MORE

We recently released an alert about the expiration of exception processes for the Medicare therapy caps as of January 1, 2018. Since that article, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed into law and includes a permanent fix to the therapy caps effective back to January 1, 2018. Therapy providers should review the... READ MORE

Major Spending Bill Passes Congress Congress passed a major $1.3 trillion spending bill this week, which keeps the government funded through September. The bill passed the House 256-167 and the Senate 65-32. In both bodies, the measure received the support of a majority of members from each party. In the Senate, unanimous consent was... READ MORE

NATIONAL Tech’s Next Big Wave: Big Data Meets Biology Hospitals Acquired 5K Independent Practices from 2015 to 2016 CMS promises more APM’s, continued flexibility, better alignment of reporting tracks for MACRA CMS official: Moving physicians into advanced APMs under MACRA a ‘top strategic goal’ Five areas of the highest physician pay in the US... READ MORE

Senate Committee Hearing Assesses 340B Program The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (“HELP”) Committee held a hearing this week to examine the 340B drug discount program as some stakeholders have urged lawmakers to scale back its reach. HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said the purpose of the hearing was to learn more... READ MORE

Last week, Cigna Corporation, the fifth largest health insurer in the country, and Express Scripts, the nation’s largest stand-alone pharmacy benefit manager (“PBM”), issued a statement outlining Cigna’s plans to acquire the PBM giant for $67 billion. This deal is just the latest example of a health insurer and PBM joining forces, coming just... READ MORE

NATIONAL Google Unveils New Cloud Service for Health Care Nurse shortage: Healthcare organizations pull out all the stops to attract and retain experienced RNs More than 60% of healthcare orgs saw cyberattack in past year, survey finds Hospitals eye concierge medicine to lure patients, boost revenue Cigna To Spend About $52 Billion For Express... READ MORE

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