Legal and practical healthcare information.
By Rose Willis and Jared Smith If you use Windows XP on April 8, you will be easily susceptible to cyber-attacks and violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). Windows XP support is ending on April 8, 2014, when support and security updates will no longer be available. This means …
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By James M. Burns In a February 26 speech before the Connecticut Bar Association, Federal Trade Commissioner Maureen Olhausen expressed strong opposition to proposed legislation that would create an antitrust exemption for collective negotiations with health insurers by otherwise competing health care providers. Describing such proposals, which have been introduced at both the federal and …
By Rose J. Willis The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued its 2014 Work Plan outlining its intended review activities of HHS Programs for 2014. This article summarizes certain portions of the 2014 Work Plan that are of considerable importance to physician practices. Security of Protected …
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By James M. Burns On December 18, 2013, the Pennsylvania House Health Committee held a hearing on Pennsylvania House Bills 1621 and 1622, two bills that would require that any health provider in the state that operates as part of an integrated delivery system (i.e., a health system that also has its own health plan, …
Continue reading “Hearing Held on Pennsylvania’s Novel “Any Willing Insurer” Legislation”
By Rodney D. Butler On February 3, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule that permits patients or their representatives to have direct access to the results of their lab tests. This rule change is significant because under the prior rule, labs could only release test results directly to …
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