New Jersey residents recently gained the “right to die,” as the legislature passed the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act on March 25, 2019. This act gives terminally ill New Jersey residents, who have six months or less to live, the right to request oral medication to end their life.» Read More
Fitness trackers have not only become a prominent part of everyday life, but also a big part of corporate wellness programs. Since fitness watches and health tracking phone apps have risen in popularity, companies have started to integrate these technologies into their wellness programs. » Read More
In January 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Civil Procedure Rules Committee proposed a rule change to allow medical malpractice plaintiffs to file suit in any county where the defendant regularly did business. This proposed change would do away with the present rule requiring injured patients to file their claims only in the county where the alleged negligence occurred.» Read More
As this blog previously addressed, the price disclosure requirement issued by the Department of Health and Human Services emanated from the Affordable Care Act and requires hospitals to post price information on the internet in a machine-readable format. Starting on January 1, 2019 this became an affirmative obligation for hospitals.» Read More
At a Brookings Institution event last month, Eric Hargan, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that the agency will be issuing proposed rules to revise federal fraud and abuse regulations that are seen as hampering care coordination and the transformation to a value-based health care system.» Read More
Starting January 1, 2019, hospitals have been reporting their standard charges online in an easily accessible format, due to a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals were required to release a list of prices for their items and services to the public; however, the initial rulemaking required that either the charges themselves be made public, or the hospital’s policy for allowing public review of the hospital’s charges upon request be made public. » Read More
There can be no doubt that the dominant and most oft-debated legal issue affecting the practice of medicine today is the prescribing of controlled substances to patients for pain. At the forefront of the debate is the drug Oxycontin, a powerful opioid produced by the privately-held company Purdue Pharma.» Read More
On Jan 23, Gov Phil Murphy announced an additional eligible condition to qualify patients for the Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) – opioid addiction. The addition of opioid addiction as a qualifying condition is consistent with the governor’s and Health Commissioner Dr.» Read More
The Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained $2.8 billion in settlements and judgements from False Claims Act civil cases in fiscal year 2018. Of this amount, $2.5 billion, (89%), involved recoveries from the health care industry, including drug and medical device manufacturers, managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, hospice organizations, laboratories, and physicians. » Read More
Do you have a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (“BAA”) in place with all your vendors who have access to your patients’ Protected Health Information (“PHI”)? If not, you may be exposing your practice to a significant monetary penalty. On December 4, 2018, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights released a statement revealing they have reached a $500,000 settlement with a Florida hospitalist group for disclosing PHI to a vendor with whom they did not have a HIPAA BAA. » Read More
