Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL 75% of healthcare experts struggle with implementing blockchain What’s next for the post-Gottlieb FDA Hospitals can only watch as big players move in on primary care The 10 best and 10 worst states for children’s healthcare HHS extends comment period for interoperability proposed rules to June 3 Cerner and naviHealth launch EHR-agnostic tool... READ MORE

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) recently unveiled the use of a new tool called the Fraud Risk Indicator. OIG’s stated purpose behind this new initiative is to provide more transparency to industry stakeholders (e.g., patients, family members, healthcare industry professionals) regarding OIG’s risk assessment of a... READ MORE

We continue to receive questions regarding the future of the 340B drug discount program (“340B Program”) now that its mid-term longevity is no longer in doubt. These include whether Congress will continue to focus on limiting the 340B Program’s scope as well as what effect, if any, broader efforts to reduce drug costs might... READ MORE

Summary In a February 2019 report, No. A-01-17-00506, HHS Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) determined that Medicare made Part B payments to ambulance suppliers for transportation services that were covered through the Medicare Part A payments to skilled nursing facilities (“SNF”) as part of consolidated billing requirements. With certain exceptions, the SNF Part... READ MORE

NATIONAL AMA teams up with biotech incubator to connect physicians with startups Amazon Alexa is luring health developers, but it will be a while before we use it to call a doctor Telemedicine may be leading to the overprescribing of antibiotics HHS to audit plans for compliance with HIPAA transactions It’s a Brave New... READ MORE

Summary On February 14, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”) launched a new five-year payment model for emergency ambulance services named the Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport Model (“ET3”). ET3 will enable participating ambulance providers and suppliers (“Ambulance Providers”) to partner with qualified... READ MORE

As more hospitals and hospital systems merge and consolidate, as well as focus their time and attention on providing more outpatient care, recent market trends suggest adaptive reuse projects will become increasingly relevant to health care providers. As a follow-up to a recent Hall Render article defining “adaptive reuse” and outlining the incentives and challenges... READ MORE

NATIONAL Hospitals add 13,600 jobs in March Walmart increasingly comparing physicians over cost 10 CEOs reshaping healthcare: Forbes What the HIPAA-compliant Alexa skills mean for the future of voice in healthcare PBM group says HHS drug rebate proposal would increase costs more than predicted The Best Places to Work in Health Care and Biopharma... READ MORE

It’s no April Fools’ joke. On April 1, 2019, the Health Resources & Services Administration Office of Pharmacy Affairs (“HRSA”) unveiled a long-awaited website that gives providers participating in the 340B drug pricing program (“340B Program”) direct access to information about the maximum amounts that pharmaceutical companies may charge for certain drugs. This moves... READ MORE

NATIONAL Hospital associations urge appeals court to reverse ACA ruling ‘Patient Dumping’ Still a Problem Despite Law Hospitals are largest employers in 16 states CMS finalizes nontraditional MA benefits, use of encounter data Physician Compensation Plateaued in 2018, Falling Less than 1% Feds get pressure to upgrade, expand HIPAA transactions These are the best... READ MORE