Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL Google Unveils New Cloud Service for Health Care Nurse shortage: Healthcare organizations pull out all the stops to attract and retain experienced RNs More than 60% of healthcare orgs saw cyberattack in past year, survey finds Hospitals eye concierge medicine to lure patients, boost revenue Cigna To Spend About $52 Billion For Express Scripts…Read More

On February 15, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a long-awaited Final Decision Memo (the “Memo”) updating the National Coverage Determination for implantable automatic defibrillators (NCD 20.4), also known as Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (“ICDs”). CMS’s update to NCD 20.4, the guidance describing when providers may bill and receive payment from CMS…Read More

Azar Pushes Value-Based Care Approach  During the annual policy conference for the Federation of American Hospitals, Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Secretary Alex Azar laid out an agenda for a more cost-effective and transparent health care system. Azar said HHS is focused on four key priorities: giving consumers greater control over health information through interoperable…Read More

NATIONAL No-frills micro hospitals with as few as 8 rooms emerge as a new way to cut health-care costs Doctors can now call Uber for patients, ditching taxi vouchers Ocular Telehealth Battle Heats Up With New Group, Lawsuit Appeal Bracket partners with Uber Health to ease clinical trial site, patient burden A New taskforce designs…Read More

After informal communications with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Central Office, it appears that edits that impact Critical Access Hospital (“CAH”) Method II claims have been overreaching. Specifically, reason codes 17713, 17714, 17716 and 17717 should not be applying to the facility charges on CAH Method II claims. These reason codes should…Read More

On February 22, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a policy memorandum clarifying existing regulatory requirements relating to H-1B petitions filed for workers who will be employed at one or more third-party worksites. Effective immediately, the new guidance aligns with President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order and the directive to…Read More

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (“PIL”) Task Force in an ongoing effort to curb the country’s current prescription opioid crisis. According to DOJ’s press release, the PIL Task Force will “aggressively deploy and coordinate all available criminal…Read More

On February 23, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued guidance that may result in fewer denials of claims made by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (“IRFs”) for services (“Guidance”). Based on the Guidance, beginning March 23, 2018, Medicare contractors cannot make claim denials exclusively on the basis of a failure to meet the…Read More

More and more, we receive questions from clients about their obligations to accommodate pregnant employees in the workplace. Regardless of whether or not the pregnant employee is disabled as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), employers must consider whether pregnancy discrimination laws require an accommodation, including whether pregnant employees are entitled to a…Read More

Focus in Washington Shifts to the Opioid Crisis The federal response to the opioid epidemic is accelerating as both the Trump administration and members of Congress announced new steps this week to tackle the issue from both a law enforcement and public health standpoint. On March 1, the White House held a summit on the…Read More