Legal and practical healthcare information.
By James M. Burns and Jessica Russell On October 1, a first-of-its-kind law became effective in Connecticut that requires group medical practices and hospitals in that state to provide the Attorney General with 30 days’ notice prior to consummating any merger or affiliation-type transaction. The new law (P.A. 14-168) is noteworthy because the threshold for …
Continue reading “Connecticut Law Imposes New Merger Regulations on Physician Combinations”
By Rose J. Willis A physician practice’s Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”) acts as the “roadmap” to the practice’s permitted uses and disclosures of their patients’ protected health information (“PHI”). September 23, 2013 was the deadline for revising NPPs to comply with the changes set forth in the 2013 HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule, meaning that …
Continue reading “Complying with Recent Changes to the Physician’s Notice of Privacy Practices”
By Keith C. Dennen Under HIPAA, physicians are permitted to disclose “protected health information” to their attorneys for purposes of their own healthcare operations. This allows physicians sued by patients for malpractice to provide their attorneys with the information needed to prepare and present a defense. Ordinarily, subpoenas or orders are a part of a …
Continue reading “Ex Parte Communications between Treating Physician and Attorneys”
By Jared A. Smith In today’s healthcare industry, information technology (“IT”) systems play an ever-expanding role in the success of a medical practice. Medical practitioners consistently juggle e-billing and electronic medical records software risk, HIPAA compliance issues, data security and data privacy requirements and meaningful use thresholds, all of which are typically addressed in IT …
Continue reading “HIPAA Violation Results in $4.8 Million Settlement: An IT Perspective”