Articles and Blogs

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARP”) into law on March 11, 2021. Included in the massive $1.9 trillion relief package was an additional $8.5 billion for rural hospitals and providers. The $8.5 billion creates a new relief fund for certain eligible rural health care providers (“Rural Relief Fund”).... READ MORE

NATIONAL 41 States Settle with AMCA Over 2019 Data Breach Affecting 21M Patients Amazon expanding Amazon Care telemedicine program nationally: 6 details Amazon to soon launch telehealth offering in all 50 states, report says Biden to states: Open vaccine eligibility to all adults by May CMS boosts reimbursement for COVID-19 vaccine administration CMS’ nursing... READ MORE

While the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”) has driven significant change throughout health care, some of the more expansive changes relate specifically to the provision of care through telehealth technology (“Virtual Care”). Given the nature and extent of the PHE flexibilities, use of telehealth has skyrocketed. Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth for 43.5% of their... READ MORE

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (“Appropriations Act”) that Congress passed in late December 2020 contained a number of provisions that will be of benefit to teaching hospitals. This article is Part 3 of our series providing insight into these CMS changes and more recent statutory changes. Part 1, which addresses resident moonlighting and redocumentation requirements,... READ MORE

NATIONAL 5 top states for healthcare, ranked by US News & World Report Amazon’s telehealth arm quietly expands to 21 more states Amazon expanding health centers to 5 states Biden Administration Pauses Key Value-Based Reimbursement Models CMS delays kidney care payment model’s 1st performance year CMS delays start of financial performance year for Kidney... READ MORE

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) is requesting comments on the recommendations it has received from the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review Committee for changes to OMB’s 2010 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area standards. Among other changes, one proposal would change nearly 150 areas from urban to rural for purposes of... READ MORE

NATIONAL 5 most common HIPAA violations physicians should watch for 3 Ways the Biden Admin, HHS Could Boost Patient Data Sharing 22 US hospitals among Newsweek’s 100 best in the world 111 rural counties have no pharmacies able to give COVID-19 vaccines, report finds A Welcome Logistical Challenge for States as More Vaccine Arrives... READ MORE

In a recent policy statement, Principal Deputy Inspector General Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), highlighted OIG’s support for increased telehealth flexibilities over the last year and expressed the potential for expanding coverage based on the experience of providers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.... READ MORE

In a new report, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) concluded that hospitals are increasingly billing Medicare for inpatient stays at the highest, most expensive severity level despite many of these stays having only one qualifying diagnosis for payment at the highest severity level and others lasting only... READ MORE

NATIONAL 7 essentials to getting mHealth data into flow of patient care 5 drugmakers to tell US House panel how they’re boosting COVID-19 vaccine supply 6 big ideas in healthcare innovation 5 takeaways from HHS nominee Becerra’s first Senate confirmation hearing AMA statement reckons with medicine’s history of racism AMA: 7 ways to ensure... READ MORE