Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL How providers can innovate to combat physician burnout CMS: Innovative new payment models are coming—and some will be mandatory Lack of consistent process hinders data sharing among HHS agencies, report finds Apple Watch Should Pave Way for More Medical Gadgets, FDA Says Pharma lobby mounts last-ditch effort to fix prescription ‘doughnut hole’ Less... READ MORE

On July 12, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its proposed rule for the Calendar Year (“CY”) 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“Proposed Rule”). Among many other changes, CMS proposed numerous modifications to the required documentation for evaluation and management (“E/M”) visits in order to alleviate the administrative burden on practitioners and... READ MORE

Hospitals in Illinois received good news last week when, after years of litigation in state court, the Illinois Supreme Court in Oswald v. Hamer[i] upheld the constitutionality of Section 15-86 of the Illinois Property Tax Code, which addresses tax exemptions for hospitals. While this decision allays recent uncertainty surrounding hospital property tax exemptions and... READ MORE

NATIONAL How ASC facilities turn their smaller operations into safer operations Private equity pushes into healthcare Walmart wants to bring its ‘everyday low prices’ to health care Only 18% of physicians say value-based payments will improve care, survey finds Half Of U.S. Doctors Have Pay Tied To ‘Value-Based Metrics’ HHS launches ASC safety database... READ MORE

On August 7, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Memorandum (“Memorandum”) announcing a policy change to allow Medicare Advantage (“MA”) plans to implement step therapy programs for physician-administered and other Part B drugs. Step therapy is a type of prior authorization for drugs in which a health plan requires... READ MORE

In the era of value-based care, health care providers and manufacturers are increasingly examining risk sharing opportunities in the treatment of patients. On September 17, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 18-10 whereby it approved a proposed risk sharing initiative with defined guardrails. Advisory Opinion... READ MORE

As Hurricane Florence inaugurates the U.S. hurricane season with fierce winds and torrential rains, health care providers are preparing to care for patients under demanding and dangerous conditions. Effective communication is always challenging and critically important when natural disasters like hurricanes strike. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule (the “Privacy... READ MORE

Nearly a decade has passed since the U.S. Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Since March 2010, we have seen federal court rulings on numerous challenges to the ACA itself and the executive branch’s efforts to enforce the ACA. One such challenge resulted on September 7, 2018 in the... READ MORE

On August 27, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) regarding the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and Civil Monetary Penalties Law (“CMP”). The RFI, published as a result of HHS’s desire to transition the current health care system to one that pays... READ MORE

NATIONAL Hospitals are fed up with drug companies, so they’re starting their own Here’s why Amazon and Apple are betting on medical clinics Drug company involving senior living parent companies now has name, CEO, financing, Rx targets National study finds hospital CEO compensation rates outpacing clinical employees Amazon, Google, Microsoft to Make Waves in... READ MORE