Microsoft recently announced that, after April 8, 2014, it will not longer provide security updates or technical support for Windows XP. Microsoft’s statement that “businesses that are governed by regulatory obligations such as HIPAA may find that they are no longer able to satisfy compliance requirements” has spurred a certain level of panic among health … Continue Reading
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a proposed rule that would modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule by allowing health care providers to make certain disclosures to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The NICS aims to keep guns from being sold to those … Continue Reading
Highmark Launches Accountable Care Alliance Attached is the press release; https://www.highmark.com/hmk2/newsroom/pressreleases/2013/pr071813.shtml More to come when the details are evaluaited.… Continue Reading
Contributed by Lee Kim, Esq. 412.594.3915 All commercial website and online service providers need to comply with the requirements of the California Online Privacy Protection Act. California recently issued guidance on how mobile application developers and others can comply with those requirements at the design stage in its guide entitled, "Privacy On the Go Recommendations … Continue Reading
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued its medical records fees for 2013. The announcement is attached; it provides as follows: Not to Exceed Amount charged per page for pages 1-20 $ 1.42 Amount charged per page for pages 21-60 $ 1.05 Amount charged per page for pages 61-end $ … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
Lee Kim, attorney in the health law practice group of Tucker Arensberg, P.C., was recently featured in a Pittsburgh Business Times article entitled, "Growing number of carriers offering companies cybersecurity insurance." Link to the article: www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/2012/10/05/growing-number-of-carriers-offering.html.… Continue Reading
Michael A. Cassidy, JD, CHC, shareholder and director of Tucker Arensberg, P.C. and Chair of the Health Law Practice Group, was recently featured in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article entitled "Patients may suffer as doctors switch practices, health systems." Link to the article: www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/patients-may-suffer-as-doctors-switch-practices-health-systems-654855/. … Continue Reading
I thought you might be interested in linking to or writing about a recent blog post by Christine Zambricki, a top official with the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. The post originally appeared in ADVANCE for Nurses Protecting Access to CRNAs Relieves Patient Pain By Christine Zambricki, CRNA, MA, FAAN In less than two weeks, … Continue Reading
Best Lawyers compiles lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. In the U.S., Best Lawyers publishes an annual referral guide, The Best Lawyers in America, which includes 39,766 attorneys in 80 specialties, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.… Continue Reading
An agreement between Highmark and UPMC is expected to be announced at 12:30 p.m. today by Gov. Tom Corbett’s office today, sources have told the Post-Gazette. Details of the agreement were not immediately known and none of the parties involved would comment this morning. Legislators and others said today that a three-year pact, until … Continue Reading
Martindale-Hubble announced that Tucker Arensberg as a “Top Ranked Law Firm.” This ranking is awarded to law firms with more than 21 attorneys and which at least 1 in 3 of their lawyers earned the AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating, the highest possible rating. An AV Preeminent certification is a significant accomplishment – a testament to … Continue Reading
The Commonwealth Fund published a recent report ranking 306 communities on 43 measures of health system performance. The title of the report is “Improving Health Care from the Ground Up” and can be accessed at www.commonwealthfund.org. I have attached the ranking of the Pittsburgh community and was somewhat surprised to see it ranking in the third … Continue Reading
Client Alert Although this topic is not related to our mission at Med Law Blog, it is so important locally that we believe it necessary to post, and ask for your tolerance. On December 27, 2011, Allegheny County mailed new 2012 property assessments to all residential properties within the City of Pittsburgh and the Borough … Continue Reading
All domestic and foreign profit and nonprofit corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, business trusts, insignias and marks, that have not made a new or amended filing with the Pennsylvania Corporation Bureau from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2011 shall be required to file a Decennial Report on or before December … Continue Reading
The annual US News and World Report Best Law Firm survey ranks Tucker Arensberg in the Best Law Firms as a Tier 1 Pittsburgh law firm in the healthcare, and many other categories. http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/firms/tucker-arensberg-p-c-/overview/18425/ … Continue Reading
Highmark and WPAHS have signed the final affiliation documents and filed them with the Pennsylvania Insurance Deoartment. The filing, which includes the terms of the agreement, the revised bylaws, and the proposed organization structure are available via this link: https://www.highmark.com/hmk2/about/newsroom/2011/hmwp/forma.pdf… Continue Reading
The final rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) has been released by CMS. The final rule implements section 3022 of the Affordable Care Act which contains provisions relating to Medicare payments to providers of services and suppliers participating in ACOs under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. An advance copy of the final rule may be … Continue Reading
