Legal and practical healthcare information.
ONC Final Rule Information blocking On May 1, 2020, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) released a Final Rule (the “ONC Final Rule”), which implements the information blocking provision of the 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in 2016. The information blocking provision …
Continue reading “HOW APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES APPLY TO HEALTHCARE ENTITIES”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently released an unpublished memorandum decision in the landmark mental parity case of Wit v. United Behavioral Health. In this decision, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s order requiring UBH to reprocess more than 60,000 claims that had initially been denied for not meeting …
Continue reading “Updates to Wit v. United Behavioral Health”
On October 24, 2018, the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”) was enacted. Broadly speaking, EKRA prohibits soliciting, receiving, paying, or offering “any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind,” for referring or to induce a referral to a recovery home, clinical treatment facility, …
Continue reading “NEW EKRA INTERPRETATION PROVIDES SOME GUIDANCE IN ITS APPLICATION”
The Department of Justice recently released their Year in Review summary of activity by the Healthcare Fraud Unit, detailing enforcements efforts related to some of the more significant telehealth-related fraud claims in 2021. The DOJ’s litigation unit significantly expanded last year to support the Fraud Unit, resulting in material criminal prosecutions and sentences. Since 2019, …