Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL FDA chief: I’m surprised it took big tech this long to get into health care Will 2018 be the year of Catholic health care dominance? U.S. medical device tax back in effect after two-year pause 13 healthcare M&A deals that made headlines in 2017 CMS reaffirms its ban on texting physician orders, clarifies patient…Read More

Over the past few years, rural health care providers have struggled to recruit full-time physicians to their communities. This has caused a number of providers to consider part-time arrangements with physicians. The rural provider considering a part-time arrangement has at least two options: 1) the provider could allow the physician to lease space within its…Read More

On December 29, 2017, a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia DENIED a motion to enjoin significant Medicare payment cuts for certain hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B Program”) that are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018. As a result, the Medicare payment…Read More

In a December 28, 2017, a memo (“Memo”) to state survey agency directors, CMS made clear that texting patient information is allowed as long as a secure texting platform is used, recognizing the importance of texting as an “essential and valuable means of communication among the team members” caring for patients. Providers must comply with HIPAA…Read More

NATIONAL Kmart to pay $32.3M to settle health care-related whistleblower case Indian Health Service Seeking Input on Modernizing its Health IT Systems Reintroduced bill could give data brokers more options under HIPAA Medicare Penalizes Group Of 751 Hospitals For Patient Injuries New laws increase access to healthcare delivery for advanced practice registered nurses 92 payer-provider…Read More

The new Tax Reform Act (the “Act”) contains numerous changes to the Internal Revenue Code that will affect tax-exempt hospitals and other health care organizations. Leaders of these organizations should begin 2018 by giving careful attention to the new restrictions and planning opportunities to avoid adverse consequences later. Repeal of Individual Mandate Beginning in January…Read More

For an update to this article, please click here. As stated in our previous blog, while there has been no official guidance from CMS regarding a broad prohibition on the texting of protected health information (“PHI”), there has been significant discussion in industry circles about CMS’s recently stated position against texting PHI. As reported in the…Read More

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently shifted to a Republican majority when President Trump’s two nominations to the Board were confirmed. Additionally, the president’s nomination for general counsel of the NLRB, a former management-side labor law attorney, was sworn in on November 17, 2017. The new Board has hit the ground running and has issued…Read More

Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown After passing the most significant tax reform legislation since 1986, Republicans in Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown on December 22 by passing legislation that temporarily funds the government through January 19, 2018. The House voted 231-88 to approve the short-term spending bill, and the Senate quickly followed,…Read More

NATIONAL Physician job growth varies greatly by region, report finds HHS OIG Report Cites Concerns with MACRA Implementation 4 healthcare revenue cycle trends to watch in 2018 OCR revamps HIPAA guidance in wake of opioid crisis, 21st Century Cures rules Physician pay increased in 2017 as demand grew, according to study 2017: A Look Back…Read More