Articles and Blogs

Beginning on November 2, 2020, health care providers around the nation must ensure compliance with the newly published Information Blocking Regulations (the “Regulations”). Reflecting a shift in how health care providers must provide access to electronic health information, these Regulations aim to improve the quality and availability of health care but also pose a... READ MORE

An Ohio federal court recently found that a hospital did not discriminate against a 73-year-old surgeon when it required the surgeon to undergo neuropsychological and physical exams after an unfortunate patient death. Additionally, the court found the hospital did not discriminate against the surgeon and instead was practicing due diligence with patient safety when... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently finalized the End-Stage Renal Disease (“ESRD”) Treatment Choices Model (the “ETC Model”), which is a mandatory payment model intended to reduce Medicare expenditures by encouraging greater use of home dialysis and kidney transplants for patients with chronic kidney disease, while maintaining or improving the quality... READ MORE

The future of post-acute provider enforcement actions will likely include increased attention, investigation and citing of infection control practices and resident abuse and neglect. On August 31, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget issued a Memorandum for the Deputy Secretaries of Executive Departments and Agencies (M‑20-31) titled “Implementation of Section 6 of Executive... READ MORE

The push for increased telehealth coverage continues during the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). On October 14, 2020, CMS added 11 new telehealth services available for Medicare reimbursement during the PHE. The newly added services include cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services and certain neurostimulator analysis and programming services. Since the beginning of the PHE,... READ MORE

CMS issued a press release on October 15, 2020, announcing a reduction in payment for COVID-19 high throughput lab testing that is not completed within two calendar days of specimen collection. In an effort to encourage timely test results, CMS announced that starting January 1, 2021, Medicare will pay $100 only to laboratories that... READ MORE

NATIONAL CMS, AAOS launching bundled payment initiative in January CMS unveils relaxed repayment terms for COVID-19 loans Coronavirus cases set new single-day records in six U.S. states and worldwide FDA Issues Guidance for Emergency Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Hospitals in new or resurgent COVID-19 hotspots enact stricter visitation policies How 3 hospitals maintained a... READ MORE

Many health systems have discussed the role they can play in addressing social determinants of health (“SDOH”), yet by February 2020, only a reported 9.1% of health systems had announced a plan to invest in SDOH. A plan is essential to create meaningful change and to define measurable goals in SDOH. As health systems... READ MORE

On October 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a memorandum updating the COVID-19 reporting requirements for hospitals and critical access hospitals (together “Hospitals”) and setting forth the enforcement process CMS will follow to address Hospitals’ non-compliance with the reporting requirements (“Memorandum”). The Memorandum can be found here. Details on... READ MORE

While the ravages of COVID-19 turned the nation’s attention away from the opioid addiction crisis, the number of opioid overdose deaths has surged during the pandemic. Recognizing that the social and emotional consequences of the pandemic will likely increase the workplace impact of opioid use and co-morbid health conditions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... READ MORE