Articles and Blogs

In the restaurant industry, it’s pretty common for fast food and sandwich shop operators—think Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Subway, etc.—to run their companies based on a franchise model. Under this model, which is somewhat analogous to a large corporation that has a main “corporate office” and satellite locations scattered around the country, the franchisor owns the brand,…Read More

On July 31, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a final rule (CMS-1696-F) outlining Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2019 Medicare payment updates and quality program changes for skilled nursing facilities (“SNF”)(“Final Rule”). The Final Rule finalized the value-based purchasing payments that start October 1, 2018, updated several SNF Quality Reporting Program details…Read More

This Week in Washington joined the House on its August break but has provided a news update to address CMS finalizing its Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule. On August 2, CMS finalized its Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for fiscal year (“FY”) 2019. The final rule updates Medicare payment policies and…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 (“MPFS Proposed Rule”). Among many other changes, CMS proposed to maintain payments for certain non-excepted (non-grandfathered) off-campus provider-based hospital departments (“PBDs”) at 40 percent of the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”)…Read More

NATIONAL CMS’ proposed outpatient payment rule for 2019: 10 things to know Add cardiologists to the list of doctors in short supply CMS proposes 2% ASC pay increase in 2019 House Subcommittee Hears Mixed Review of MACRA How Hospital CEOs Deliver Consistent Patient Experience Across An Enterprise Medicare’s Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule:…Read More

Last month, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to approve the sixth edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (the “ERDs”). The approved revisions specifically relate to Part Six of the ERDs, which addresses “Forming New Partnerships with Health Care Organizations and Providers.” The approved revisions entail a restructuring…Read More

On July 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) Proposed Rule (“OPPS Proposed Rule”). As anticipated based on public comments made by Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Secretary Alex Azar, CMS is proposing to expand application of reduced payment for discounted drugs purchased…Read More

CMS Releases Proposed Outpatient Pay Rule On July 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued the Medicare hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (“ASC”) proposed rule for Calendar Year 2019, which contains an annual payment rate increase of 1.25 percent. Most significantly, the proposed rule would expand the “site-neutral”…Read More

NATIONAL AHA Seeks Changes to Stark Law to Support Care Coordination How Hospital Merger and Acquisition Activity is Changing Healthcare CMS seeks chief health informatics officer to lead HIT efforts Former HHS leaders: Stark and anti-kickback laws ‘harm the very patients they are supposed to protect’ What healthcare CFOs should know about artificial intelligence, machine…Read More

Earlier this year, Hall Render attorneys Ammon Fillmore and Melissa Markey published a series of articles with Becker’s Hospital Review on blockchain technology and its impact, potential benefits and challenges within health care. Blockchain Technology: Building Trust in the Supply Chain In this article, learn what blockchain is, how it relates to cryptocurrency and where…Read More