Articles and Blogs

On Wednesday, November 25, 2020, CMS announced additional flexibilities in the “Hospitals Without Walls” waiver initiative designed to permit even greater flexibility for hospitals to treat eligible patients in the patient’s home. It is critical to note that this is an individualized waiver program. Each hospital that wishes to provide care through the Acute... READ MORE

The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) in its November Work Plan has put hospitals on notice that it is going to begin auditing short-stay inpatient claims for compliance with CMS’s Two-Midnight Rule. Short stay claims – claims for inpatient stays of less than two midnights – have caused hospitals and providers considerable confusion over... READ MORE

Late this afternoon, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released long-awaited and highly anticipated Stark and Anti-Kickback Statute final rules (“Final Rules”) aimed at modernizing and streamlining key fraud and abuse regulations under the federal Stark, Anti-Kickback and Civil Monetary Penalties Laws. As anticipated, the Final... READ MORE

NATIONAL 17 HIPAA settlements in 2020 10 health systems opening hospitals 22% of US hospitals anticipate a staffing shortage, HHS data shows 29 hospitals postponing elective procedures amid the COVID-19 resurgence A pandemic snapshot: 10 hospitals, health systems experiencing workforce shortages After Hahnemann, AMA steps up efforts to protect residents As the Pandemic Surges,... READ MORE

It turns out that the mail-in voting debate extends beyond the 2020 presidential election. In particular, and as you may recall based on our previous post, union elections around the nation have been ripe for controversy in the mail-in voting discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”)... READ MORE

On November 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a Special Fraud Alert (the “Alert”) addressing speaker program payments made by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to health care professionals (“HCPs”). Specifically, the Alert focuses on company-sponsored events at which the HCP makes a speech... READ MORE

NATIONAL 18 physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers elected to Congress 17 hospitals postponing elective procedures amid the COVID-19 resurgence 39 hospitals face maximum Medicare readmission penalties 3 areas newly ripe for employer-driven change in healthcare policy A breakdown of 5 recent CMS rules ACA legality case has first encounter with Supreme Court AMA:... READ MORE

Recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to accept review of State of Wisconsin v. Dawn M. Prado, in which the Court of Appeals struck down a portion of Wisconsin’s “implied consent” law that permits police to order warrantless blood draws on incapacitated drivers.[1] As detailed in a previous Hall Render alert, although the Court... READ MORE

The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) recently released the 2020 edition of the Pharmacist’s Manual, replacing all previous versions. Since 2010, the Pharmacist’s Manual (“Manual”) has aided pharmacies and pharmacists in understanding how to apply requirements under the Federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and related DEA regulations. As an agency guidance document, the Manual offers... READ MORE

Recently, a former Texas hospital (the “Hospital”) settled a multi-million dollar False Claims Act civil lawsuit involving the acquisition and use of funds from the largest Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgage for a for-profit hospital. The Hospital settled for $13.6 million and three top executives of the hospital, along with the development company, will collectively... READ MORE