Capehart Scatchard
There’s A Rule For That
Health care is “under innovation.” No matter how health care is reformed, new and old arrangements will remain highly regulated, with new technology and collaborations moving faster than the law can adapt. Outdated regulations, some not amended in over two decades, may seem no longer relevant, but regulators won’t hesitate to use them. Innovators in health […]
New Jersey Rule Takes Effect Governing Prescribers’ Compensation from Pharma
New Jersey prescribers receiving almost anything of value from a pharmaceutical manufacturer, must ensure that such compensation complies with a new state regulation that took effect January 16, 2018. The rule, Limitations on and Obligations Associated with Acceptance of Compensation from Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by Prescribers, was adopted as one of the last acts of the […]
When it Comes to Diagnostic Testing, Be Careful of the Company You Keep
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey reorganized its health care practice in 2010 and created a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since then, that office has recovered more than $1.36 billion in health care and […]
The Importance of Having an Updated Business Associate Agreement
As part of its increased enforcement efforts, the Office of Civil Rights of the US Department of Health and Human Services (OCR) recently entered into a $400,000 settlement with a Rhode Island hospital for failure to update its business associate agreement as required under the Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and […]
Continuing to Fight the Opioid Addiction Epidemic: President Obama Signs the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
The national opioid addiction epidemic is one of the largest public health crises of our time. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that more people died from drug overdoses in 2014 than in any year on record, with the majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involving an opioid. In fact, drug overdoses […]
General Wellness Products Get FDA Okay
The buzzword “wellness” has permeated the healthcare industry for the better part of a decade, with everyone from insurance companies, to hospital systems, to acupuncturists, to even cellular phone manufactures promoting “wellness.” Given the ambiguous meaning of “wellness,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently jumped into the ring and issued non-binding guidance that it […]
Health Equity Rule Issued under the Affordable Care Act
On May 13, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights issued a Final Rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. Entities […]
Court Finds Terms in Hospital Invoices to be Unenforceable
On April 22, 2016, the New Jersey Appellate Division found that a hospital’s medical records processor could not enforce an arbitration clause, which was included in an invoice for fees charged in response to a request for medical records.[1] A law firm, on behalf of and authorized by its client, requested Medical Records Online Inc. […]
Can a Corporation Be Your Doctor?
With the recent and continuing proliferation of ambulatory care facilities, drug treatment facilities, and diagnostic, therapeutic, and ancillary care services frequently under the same roof as medical practices, it is essential that physicians and other licensed practitioners ensure that the structure of their practice complies with the Corporate Practice of Medicine (CPOM) doctrine and associated […]
In Case of First Impression District Court Expands the Reach of the False Claims Act
In a recent decision, Druding v. Care Alternatives, Inc.[1], the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that Medicare hospice certification provisions are conditions of payment, thereby effectively expanding the reach of the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The Defendant in the matter is a for-profit provider of end-of-life hospice care in […]
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