Health Care

As a service to our readers we have distilled last week’s joint HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and National Institute of Standards in Technology (NIST) conference, “Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security” into three phrases: (i) risk assessment, (ii) workforce training, and (iii) adequate encryption.

September 30th marked the launch of transparency reports under the Sunshine Act through a new Open Payments website hosted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

A False Claims Act suit can be a company’s worst nightmare, as it may potentially result in large settlements and awards on account of the statute’s trebled damages provision.

Earlier this week, my colleague Dianne Bourque commented on a small medical practice’s inability to access its patients’ medical records one July day after its EHR vendor blocked the practice from pulling the data stored in the EHR.

On September 16, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced key shared savings and losses results of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that began participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) or the Pioneer ACO Program (PACO) in 2012 and 2013.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) released guidance last Wednesday to help covered entities and business associates understand the privacy implications of the 2013 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor (“Windsor”).

Last week CMS announced that it would not execute its option to terminate its 2015 contracts with Medicare Advantage Plans and Part D plans that had scored three stars or less for three consecutive years.

On Wednesday, during a speech before the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund conference in Washington, D.C., Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division, announced that her office will be stepping up its review of False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam complaints for potential criminal prosecution.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update.  This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

The mobile app and wearables market in health care is booming, most recently evidenced by Apple’s entry into the market with its widely-anticipated “HealthKit,” a purportedly secure platform that allows mHealth apps to share user’s health and fitness data with the new Health app and with each other.

Please join us on September 23rd, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. for a webinar where we’ll discuss the recent statements from the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission describing the susceptibility of pharmaceutical and medical device companies in regards to FCPA enforcement.

As previously reported by the team from ML Strategies, one of the many telehealth developments to watch this year has been the Federation of State Medical Board’s (FSMB) Interstate Licensure Compact. 

The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) requires that non-grandfathered health plans make preventive care and screenings available to their members at no cost (i.e. no deductibles, coinsurance, or co-payments).

For the past 18 months, health care providers and the pharmaceutical industry have been hoping for some clarity regarding 340B Drug Discount Program operations. But things just keep getting murkier.

If your health care organization swipes credit cards, such as for the collection of copayments, parking fees, or even gifts in a gift shop, you should read this important update regarding “Backoff” Malware, which includes practical steps for protecting your credit card data. 

A federal district court recently dismissed a qui tam relator’s complaint in a declined case against the Hospital for Special Surgery (“Hospital”), its former CEO, and an outside billing company alleging that they violated the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and the New York FCA resulting from alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Stark Law. 

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update. This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments. 

Over the last decade, it has often felt as though the pharmaceutical industry has been the government’s and whistleblowers’ main, and at times only, target for False Claims Act (“FCA”) investigations.  While manufacturers are likely not out from underneath the microscope, it seems as though the lens may have shifted slightly to focus on the rest of the prescription drug transaction. 

In an Advisory Opinion posted August 15, 2014, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) concluded that a proposed arrangement by a specialty pharmacy (“Requestor”) might generate prohibited remuneration under the Federal anti-kickback statute and would pose a risk of fraud and abuse. 

As my colleague Brian Dunphy previously reported, CMS temporarily closed the Open Payments system earlier this month. Open Payments is the online system through which pharmaceutical and device manufacturers covered by the Sunshine Act report payments and transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals.