Articles and Blogs

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 marketing…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 a…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 to…Read More

Most employers are familiar with the scrutiny afforded non-compete agreements. However, many don’t realize that there are other forms of restrictive covenants potentially subject to that same scrutiny. Today, September 5, 2017, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be asked to decide whether the state’s law that limits the enforceability of non-compete agreements applies to the…Read More

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) has “suspended indefinitely” the compliance date for the new pay data reporting requirements on the EEO-1 report. Private employers with at least 100 employees will still be required to annually file EEO-1 reports, but the scope of the report will be limited to the same “race/ethnicity and gender…Read More

On August 29, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that adjustment of status applications based on employment and refugee/asylee petitions will be subject to in-person interviews with immigration officers beginning October 1, 2017. USCIS POLICY CHANGE Although Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) regulations provide a legal basis for requiring all adjustment of status…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 on…Read More

On August 18, 2017, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) issued a statement confirming numerous reports of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) denying Form I-131 Applications for Advance Parole where applicants exited the U.S. while the applications were pending. These denials have occurred even where applicants possessed separate, valid advance parole documents or nonimmigrant…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 Plan…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 health…Read More