HEALTHCARE FUTURES — CONSIDERATIONS & IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYERS

Health Care Reform: What’s up next for Employers?

Emerging health care reform mandates, regulations and guidelines are driving numerous changes to employer health benefits.  Having dealt with the initial administration compliance requirements, employers are now turning their attention to the longer-term issues included in reform.Continue Reading REGISTER NOW – 2011 Symposium – HEALTHCARE FUTURES — CONSIDERATIONS & IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYERS

The members of Western Pennsylvania chapter of the Health Information Management Systems Society ("WPHIMSS") have elected board members for the 2011-2012 session.  Tucker Arensberg, P.C. attorney Lee Kim has been elected as a board member at-large.

More specifically, the following individuals have been elected to provide chapter leadership for the fiscal year of July …

If you’re a provider or supplier that furnishes the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging (ADI) services and bill Medicare under the Physician Fee Schedule for these services, you should know that you must be accredited by Sun Jan 1, 2012.  Those not accredited by that deadline will not be able to bill Medicare …

Target Audience:

Eligible Professionals (EPs): Doctors of Medicine or Osteopathy, Doctors of Dental Surgery or Dental Medicine, Doctors of Podiatric Medicine, Doctors of Optometry, Chiropractors, Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, Physician Assistants (PA) who practice at an FQHC/RHC led by a PA.

Subject: A session for individual practitioners on the basics of the Medicare…

An interim final rule has been recently published for "Adoption of Operating Rules for Eligibility for a Health Plan and Health Care Claim Status Transactions."  Section 1104 of the Affordable Care Act establishes new requirements for administrative transactions that will improve the utility of the existing HIPAA transactions and reduce administrative costs.

This interim final…

HHS has awarded a contract to KPMG to aid the Office of Civil Rights to provide assistance in operating an audit program to ensure that healthcare providers, health plans, and business associates are compliant with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule.

From the FBO.gov contract award notice:

"The protocol and audit program performance requested under this contract …

Contributed by Paul J. Welk

412.594.5536

Dr. Richard Allen Kaye, the Medical Director of Sentara Obisi Hospital, in Suffolk, VA was indicted by a federal grand jury for disclosing patient identifiable information in violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.  The indictment accuses Dr. Kaye of disclosing patient information without authorization to an agent of the…

In Georgopoulos v. Humility of Mary Health Partners Inc., Dr. Georgopoulos was placed upon a six month surgical proctoring requirement because of extended operating times and excessive use of blood products.  In addition to many procedural defenses, Dr. Georgopoulos’s primary substantive defense is that his patient survival and freedom from major cardiac events…

UCLA Health System ("UCLAHS") has agreed to settle potential HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule violations for $865,000 after an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights ("OCR").  UCLAHS has committed to a corrective action plan for compliance purposes.

“Covered entities are responsible for the actions of their employees. This is…

In CMS Advisory Opinion AO-2011-01, CMS has issued a favorable advisory opinion allowing the physician recruitment arrangement with a hospital and a physician practice which imposes a restrictive covenant upon the recruited physician.

Restrictive covenants and recruitment arrangements had initially been prohibited by the Stark Rules. However, bowing to industry comment, CMS amended the physician…

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About Our Practice Group

Tucker Arensberg’s Healthcare Practice Group includes some of the most experienced health law attorneys in the region. We handle the legal problems so our clients can handle the important work of caring for patients. We work with physicians, physical therapists, dentists, optometrists, and all other professional care givers to help them avoid the many legal traps of running a practice. Tucker Arensberg lawyers have experience in all major health law issues.