Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL Health IT passes first big test with Hurricane Harvey Hickenlooper-Kasich health care proposal calls for retaining individual mandate, funding CSRs Bundled payments on ‘pause,’ but not for long After Harvey, telemedicine connects doctors to displaced patients New U.S. surgeon general sworn in Tuesday Specialty practices way behind on MACRA readiness, survey shows Sen.... READ MORE

Health-related entities and individuals should consider securing registration for “.health” domain suffixes associated with their legal and/or trade names during the health industry exclusivity period now through November 30, 2017. The new .health top level domain suffixes provide unique opportunities for health-related entities and individuals to solidify branding in their current and future digital... READ MORE

On September 6, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Survey and Certification (“S&C”) Memo 17-44 with new guidance to State Survey Agencies pertaining to the application of the Medicare statutory definition of  “hospital” and whether a hospital is “primarily engaged” in the provision of inpatient services. CMS clarified that... READ MORE

On August 25, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) posted Advisory Opinion 17-03 addressing a proposed arrangement whereby a pharmaceutical manufacturer of biologics and other products (“Supplier”) would replace products that require specialized handling[1] that could not be administered to patients for certain reasons, at no additional charge... READ MORE

A recent U.S. Court of Appeals decision increases chances for data breach victims to successfully sue. In 2014, customers of a health insurer filed a lawsuit after their personally identifiable information (“PII”) was revealed in a data breach that affected more than one million individuals.[1] The lower court dismissed the lawsuit in 2014, but... READ MORE

NATIONAL Deloitte: Many states establishing Medicaid APMs, but few evaluated for effects on outcomes Doctors loathe their EHRs, right? Not these physicians Is Amazon about to take over the pharmacy industry? HHS proposes another 340B penalty rule delay For-profit hospital operators likely to experience weak patient admissions through 2018 Governors Preparing Bipartisan Health Care... READ MORE

With the intention of improving care for individuals receiving substance use disorder treatment and mental health care by better coordinating care, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act (“Act”), a bipartisan bill designed to grant incentives to behavioral health organizations to adopt electronic... READ MORE

While federal efforts in recent years may have incrementally increased the number of medical residents in training in the United States, still too few residents are being trained to meet expected demand for physicians. This article examines a recent United States Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) report that outlines the federal efforts to expand graduate... READ MORE

On July 25, 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued guidance (the “Guidance”) stating that it does not intend to object to an Institutional Review Board’s (“IRB”) wavier of the informed consent requirements for human subjects research involving no more than minimal risk. The Guidance, effective immediately, aligns the FDA’s policy on the waiver... READ MORE

Amazon is taking strides to enter one of the most complex of industries: health care. In late 2016, Amazon began investigating the possibilities of leveraging its supply chain to meet health care consumers’ needs. Amazon Business, Amazon’s current supply chain platform, has already transformed the supply chain industry, generating over $1 billion in sales... READ MORE