Health Care

In this article "Texas Law Gives Privacy More Muscle than HIPAA", published by Law360 on September 16, 2011, Mintz Levin attorney Dianne Bourque is quoted regarding the aggressive new Texas health care privacy law.

Eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in health care has long been a top government priority, but — as demonstrated by a series of events this week — it likely will garner even more attention as the government seeks to reduce the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. Providers should closely monitor the developments.

CMS has announced the publication of a proposed rule that will require HIPAA-covered laboratories to make test results available to patients no later than 180 days after the rule's effective date, which will be 60 days after publication in tomorrow's Federal Register. 

In a recent advisory opinion, the OIG allowed a hospital to share telemedicine resources with another hospital, in the interest of promoting new models of consultation and improving patient care by reducing unnecessary patient transfers.

When qui tam relators/whistleblowers file suit under the civil False Claims Act (FCA), they are “standing in the shoes” of the government to allege that the government has suffered damages due to fraud. 

This case involved “John Doe,” a 65-year-old registered level-three sex offender. After serving time in jail, Mr. Doe was released to a homeless shelter. After sustaining serious injuries during a mugging, he was hospitalized and later discharged to a nursing home.