On March 7, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it reached a settlement with Skagit County, Washington over potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Skagit County agreed to pay $215,000 and enter into a […]
Health Law Alert
Federal Court Decision in Nebraska Receives National Attention: US District Court Upholds ZPIC Sampling Methodology for Extrapolation to Determine Medicare Overpayment
on Wednesday, 16 April 2014 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On January 22, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska granted a motion for summary judgment by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), upholding an extrapolation from a statistical sampling of claims for chiropractic services, to recover $37,580 in Medicare overpayments. Wisconsin Physician […]
HIPAA Audits Round Two: Is Your Organization Prepared?
on Friday, 11 April 2014 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On February 24, 2014, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it will begin a second round of HIPAA compliance audits. The audits will address compliance with the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules. The audit program will affect covered entities, […]
Federal Court Finds Stark/False Claims Act Applicable to Medicaid Claims
on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
A Florida federal district court has allowed a qui tam case to proceed arising from claims submitted to a state Medicaid program due to a potential Stark law violation. In U.S. v. All Childrens Health System, the relator, who had worked for All Childrens for many years as a practice […]
HIPAA and CLIA Strengthen Rules on Direct Access to Laboratory Test Results
on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On February 6, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Office for Civil Rights jointly released final rules that give individuals direct access to lab test results. The new rules have implications for hospital labs, including reference labs, and allow individuals (or […]
