The OIG recently issued an interesting advisory opinion related to a hospital based hospice agency’s intent to establish a volunteer program to provide non-skilled services to terminally ill patients who do not qualify for hospice care. Read the full text of the OIG opinion here: https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/advisoryopinions/2012/AdvOpn12-17.pdf
Continue Reading OIG Advisory Opinion No. 12-17
2012
OIG Advisory Opinion No. 12-20
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in HIPAA, HIT, and EHR
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq.
412.594.3915
The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services has issued an advisory opinion regarding a hospital’s proposal to provide free acces to an electronic interface to community physicians and physician practices (who request it) so that the physicians and practices can transmit orders for…
mHIMSS Roadmap
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in HIPAA, HIT, and EHR
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq.
412.594.3915
mHIMSS, the mobile initiative of HIMSS, has released the mHIMSS Roadmap to serve as guideance for professionals, organizations, corporations and health systems on the adoption of mobile and mobile health devices.
Lee Kim, chair of the mHIMSS Legal/Policy taskforce, authored several sections of the legal & policy section of the…
2012 mHealth Summit
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in HIPAA, HIT, and EHR
Lee Kim, an intellectual property and healthcare technology attorney at Tucker Arensberg, PC, will be a panelist for a session entitled, "Policy & Regulatory Environments: A Mobile Perspective" at the international mHealth Summit which will be held in National Harbor, MD. The 4th Annual mHealth Summit is the largest event of its kind and more…
OIG Approves Per Diem Call Pay
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Compliance, Medicare & Reimbursement
OIG Advisory Opinion No. 12-15 has approved an existing arrangement under which a hospital pays physicians a per diem fee for providing on call ER coverage.
Under the arrangement, the hospital pays per diem fees to 130 specialty physicians on staff who provide on-call services, including:
· telephone consultations;
· in-person consultations, as…
National Foundation for American Policy Recommends Immigration Reform to Meet Needs of U.S. Healthcare
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Legal News
National Foundation for American Policy released its November 2012 policy recommendations recognizing immigration reform for health care workers as a broad measure to deal with increasing labor demand and shortage in the health care industry arising from the needs of the aging U.S. population and the Affordable Care Act. These policy recommendations are necessary at…
2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Medicare & Reimbursement
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2013. Unless Congress intervenes, the rule implements a 26.5 percent reduction in Medicare physician payments in 2013 based on the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. MGMA will continue its steadfast advocacy efforts to repeal the flawed SGR formula, and…
Western Pennsylvania 2012 Cybersecurity Conference
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in HIPAA, HIT, and EHR
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq.
412.594.3915
Yesterday, I attended the Western Pennsylvania 2012 Cybersecurity Conference. It was a unique opportunity to learn about cyber-threats, including cyber-attacks and cyber-crime. As a healthcare technology attorney, I asked the panelists about their thoughts on these issues as they pertain to the healthcare industry. In response, I was told that…
Physician Groups Asking for Elimination of SGR Formula and Proposing Transition Plan
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Legal News
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq.
412.594.3915
In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, more than one-hundred physicians’ groups have urged the elimination of the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, asserting that the formula is an impediment to successful health care delivery and payment reforms that can improve the quality of patient care while…
Patent Enforcement and the Healthcare Industry
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Intellectual Property
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq., USPTO Reg. No. 53,125
412.594.3915
MMRGlobal is targeting the healthcare entities that have an electronic health record system with claims that its "foundational patents" limit the entities’ ability to communicate protected health information without potentially infringing its patents. Through its outside counsel, it has begun sending 250 letters to entities…