Articles and Blogs

On April 17, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it had reached a settlement with Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, P.C. (the “Practice”) arising from potential violations of the Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).  This is the first Resolution Agreement under HIPAA…Read More

Consumers can now compare results from home health agencies (HHA) patient surveys on the Quality Care Finder website.  These results are designed to create incentives for HHAs to improve quality of care, as well as to give patients additional information as to the type of care they will receive from a particular agency.  The Centers for…Read More

If you are one of those generous employers who provides educational scholarships to current employees and prospective employees, we strongly recommend that you evaluate whether you are appropriately taxing these benefits.  When an individual hears the word “scholarship,” they frequently don’t think of this financial award as potentially having tax implications.  However, for purposes of…Read More

In September of 2011, the Indiana Court of Appeals rendered its opinion in Doe Corp. v. Honore, 950 N.E.2d 722 (Ind. Ct. of App. 2011). The central issue in the case was whether the trial court had equitable power to consider a request for a preliminary determination of law after the Medical Review Panel had…Read More

Comments to the Medicare and Medicaid Program; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program-Stage 2 Proposed Regulations are due in two weeks.  If you wish to make comments to these proposed regulations, they must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 7.  Comments can be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov.  You can also submit written comment…Read More

Comments to the Health Information Technology: Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology, 2014 Edition; Revisions to the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology  Proposed Regulations are due in two weeks. If you wish to make comments to these proposed regulations, they must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on…Read More

Part 1 of 2 It seems like yesterday, but we are two years into the “health care reform” era.  The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) became law in March of 2010.  The primary goals of the ACA are three-fold:  increase coverage, reduce the cost of care and improve the quality of care.  Few argue the importance…Read More

In Freilich v. Upper Chesapeake Health System1, the Maryland Court of Appeals examined allegations of retaliatory peer review action against a physician who accused the Hospital of providing poor patient care.  Dr. Freilich is a nephrologist with a history of disruptive and abusive conduct towards patients and the nursing staff at two different hospitals in…Read More

On March 14, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final rule finalizing proposed revisions to the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (“DMEPOS”) supplier standards (“Final Rule”).  An article summarizing the April 4, 2011 proposed rule can be found here.  

Just hours after the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia issued its emergency injunction preventing the enforcement of the NLRB’s Employee Rights Notice Posting Rule, the NLRB issued this statement:  “In view of the DC Circuit’s order, and in light of the strong interest in the uniform implementation and administration of agency rules, regional offices…Read More