Articles and Blogs

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

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was mandated to submit a report to Congress evaluating the Nationwide Program for National and State Background Checks on Direct Patient Access Employees of Long Term Care Facilities and Providers (commonly referred to as the “Background Check…Read More

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

Hall Render Discusses Health Law Reform on Capitol Hill As part of ongoing initiatives to persuade Congress to reform the Stark Law and remove fraud and abuse law barriers that hinder the expansion of telemedicine, Hall Render attorneys recently conducted another round of meetings with congressional staff on Capitol Hill, including House Energy and Commerce…Read More

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has published their annual Work Plan for 2013. The Work Plan continues to identify compliance risk areas that subject Medicare and Medicaid providers to audit and enforcement initiatives. The Work Plan specifically targets skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), hospices, and home health agencies (HHAs). For all types of providers,…Read More