Articles and Blogs

On March 4, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced a voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (“SRDP”) that will allow physician-owned hospitals and rural providers an alternative way to remedy certain issues of noncompliance with the federal Stark Law (“Stark Law”).1  CMS has provided special instructions regarding a voluntary SRDP for physician-owned hospitals that…Read More

Join Hall Render Attorney Robert Markette on March 10 for: How Home Care and Acute Care Can Work Together With the rise of ACOs and other new payment models, acute care providers are beginning to reconsider their involvement with post-acute care. As pay for performance, shared savings and other models that pay based upon quality…Read More

Employers may run into trouble with employees and the NLRB for interfering with protected activity if social media posts are restricted. On the other hand, employers could be liable to customers if they permit employees to post hostile statements and information. This quandary was highlighted by the holding in a recent federal court case. Was Employer…Read More

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals¹ became the third federal appeals court in one week to issue an opinion regarding the False Claims Act’s Public Disclosure Bar.² In a non-precedential opinion, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pharmacist’s allegations finding the allegations were based on public information for which the Relator was not…Read More

By now private employers should be well aware that employees who openly criticize management and refuse to obey instructions will often be found to be engaging in lawful, protected activity by the NLRB. Another very recent decision by the NLRB brings home that point again – even where no union is involved.

The Fourth District of the Appellate Court of Illinois reaffirmed that claims by a physician that a hospital’s failure to renew his privileges caused actual and intentional harm to his professional reputation are barred by the Illinois’s Hospital Licensing Act. Only claims alleging an actual or deliberate intention to physically harm the physician or others trump a hospital’s immunity…Read More

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals¹ became the third federal appeals court in one week to issue an opinion regarding the False Claims Act’s Public Disclosure Bar.² In a non-precedential opinion, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pharmacist’s allegations finding the allegations were based on public information for which the Relator was not the…Read More

The Fourth District of the Appellate Court of Illinois reaffirmed that claims by a physician that a hospital’s failure to renew his privileges caused actual and intentional harm to his professional reputation are barred by the Illinois’s Hospital Licensing Act. Only claims alleging an actual or deliberate intention to physically harm the physician or others trump a hospital’s immunity…Read More

Providing notice to employees utilizing FMLA can be difficult. Unfortunately, it’s only getting worse. A federal court recently decided  the issue of whether an employer, by informing an employee of the FMLA recertification requirement via email, gave proper notice. Although the employer previously sent FMLA notices to the employee via email, the court found that…Read More

Earlier today, at an annual meeting of tax professionals, Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) TE/GE Commissioner Sunita Lough remarked that the IRS recently completed and provided Congress a report on the activities of tax-exempt and other hospitals. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 4959, the Treasury Department or its designee must review the community benefit activities of every Code Section 501(c)(3) hospital at least once…Read More