Articles and Blogs

Effective November 1, 2012, 2011 Wisconsin Act 160 (the “Act”) creates a licensure process for anesthesiologist assistants practicing in Wisconsin who, since 1980, have practiced under delegated authority.  A copy of the Act is available on the Wisconsin Legislature’s website.

NLRB Adopts ALJ Decision Finding Employer “Courtesy” Policy to Be Unlawful Last Fall, an Administrative Law Judge for the NLRB issued one of the first opinions addressing social media in the workplace.  The ALJ’s decision addressed two separate social media issues in what you may recall as the “hot dog cart” case or the “Land…Read More

On September 19, 2012, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Columbus Regional Hospital vs. Clyde Amburgey.  The Court allowed plaintiff to proceed against the Hospital for the actions of physicians on staff as apparent agents even though the physicians were not named in the lawsuit.  The court found a material issue of…Read More

Who Is a Supervisor? – The NLRB Gets It Wrong If a person is a “supervisor” then that person is considered management, and under the NLRA that supervisor cannot be part of a union bargaining unit.  Deciding who is a supervisor can have significant consequences for employers – especially when it comes to union organizing. …Read More

Congress Eyes E/M Cuts to Pay for “Doc Fix” On Tuesday, a Democrat congressional aide on the Senate Finance Committee suggested that cuts to non-emergency evaluation and management (“E/M”) services may be considered as a way to offset the cost of “doc fix” legislation Congress must pass before the end of the year.  The proposal,…Read More

Executive Summary On October 10, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of  Inspector General (“OIG”) posted OIG Advisory Opinion 12-14 (the “AO”).  The OIG reviewed a proposed arrangement involving a retail supermarket rewards program that included rewards for a customer’s out-of-pocket amounts spent on prescriptions covered by federally funded health care programs…Read More

As reported by the Post-Tribune, Methodist Hospitals has settled a dispute with Medical Information Technology (MEDITECH), FTI Cambio and HealthNET related to the failed implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) sytem.  If you are experiencing challenges with an EHR implementation, please see our prior post 4 Action Items When Facing an EHR Software Implementation Failure or contact…Read More

This Health Law News article is Part IX and the last in the series discussing the new governance study, “Governance in Large Nonprofit Health Systems: Current Profile and Emerging Patterns.” The full Report is available here. Part I – Executive Summary was published in Hall Render’s Health Law News on August 8, 2012, Part II –…Read More

While hospices are required to ensure that substantially all core hospice services, including nursing services, are performed by hospice employees, hospices have been permitted to utilize contracted staff members to supplement hospice employees during periods of peak patient loads or extraordinary circumstances. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) agrees the nation-wide shortage of hospice nurses has proven…Read More

President Barack Obama recently signed legislation that extended several immigration programs, including the E-Verify service and the Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver (“Conrad 30”) Program. This recent legislation does not change the E-Verify service or the Conrad 30 Program requirements—it merely extends the programs, both of which were originally set to expire on October…Read More