Yesterday (May 13, 2020), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a 74-page “toolkit” to help nursing homes mitigate COVID-19 in their facilities. A copy of the CMS publication can be found here: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-toolkit-states-mitigate-covid-19-nursing-homes.pdf
The toolkit provides resources dedicated to addressing the very specific challenges facing nursing homes during this crisis. It is…
Although the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) has previously announced that it would exercise discretion with respect to financial arrangements entered into to facilitate and enhance the availability of COVID-19 testing, the attached Memorandum from the Office of Attorney General also indicates enhanced enforcement scrutiny with respect to fraudulent testing.
The following are just some random thoughts or curated information regarding the impact the COVID pandemic will have on privacy in general, and health information privacy in particular.
I have attached a link to information issued by HHS explaining that, not only are HHS and OCR specifically advising that the release of patient information regarding…
Attached is a PDF issued by CMS regarding blanket waivers of the Stark Law in order to allow physicians and hospitals to adjust 18 different potential financial relationships in order to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. The waivers were issued on March 30, 2020, with a retroactive effective date of March 1, 2020. They will…
Although many believe the HIPAA rules already allow for disclosure of COVID-19 cases on the basis of a public emergency, OCR just issued Guidance, attached in the link below, confirming disclosure is permitted when needed to provide treatment, with the notification is required by law and in order to prevent or control the spread of…
A vast majority of current physician employment contracts, both with larger systems and in individual practice, have some sort of productivity component for compensation, dependent upon the production of:
Even if there are no negotiated “resource” provisions, most contracts also have what was always thought to be…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS.gov) issued a Telemedicine Tool Kit. Use this link to access the Tool Kit.
I. Introduction.
1. Clinical Guidance
2. Malpractice Liability
3. Reimbursement
4. Employer/Workers Compensation
5. Telehealth
II. Clinical Guidance.
…
While we are waiting for final disposition of the AKS Safe Harbors and Stark Exceptions proposed in October of 2019, since the comment period expired December 31, 2019 and final rules have not been issued, I thought we should reflect on the comments made and proposed regulations regarding physician compensation.
Physicians have become accustomed to…
You can now tell that telemedicine is a mature industry, because it has achieved enough critical mass that the fraud has started and the OIG is beginning to prosecute. There is a lag time between when the cash flow and profit achieves sufficient critical mass to attract the criminals, the OIG identifies the problems, and…
