Recent Nebraska disciplinary actions based on lax physician narcotic prescription practices suggest that it would be worthwhile for hospital and clinic medical staff to review their states’ published guidance on pain management practices. Not only do lax narcotic prescription practices place licensure at risk, but disciplinary action short of license […]
Health Law Alert
CMS Clarifies the Expanded Role of Telemedicine in Delivering CAH Emergency Services
on Friday, 28 June 2013 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
Conditions of Participation On June 7, 2013, CMS released a helpful Memorandum1 clarifying the role that telemedicine can play in meeting CAH emergency room standards, both under conditions of participation and for EMTALA compliance. The Memorandum was triggered by widespread “misconceptions” on the part of critical access hospitals about whether […]
Community Health Needs Assessments – Proposed Rules Issued by the IRS
on Friday, 31 May 2013 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
Tax-exempt hospitals are required by section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code to perform a community health needs assessment (“CHNA”) at least once every three years. Tax-exempt hospitals must both perform and complete a CHNA and formally adopt an implementation strategy based on the CHNA by the end of their […]
OCR Launches Nationwide Compliance Review of CAH Language Access Programs
on Friday, 31 May 2013 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On April 30th, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it will begin compliance reviews to support language access programs in critical access hospitals (CAHs) as part of federal efforts to reduce health disparities. OCR reviews will focus on compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of […]
Idaho State University Fined $400,000 for HIPAA Security Rule Violation
on Friday, 31 May 2013 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
In August 2010, the Idaho State University notifi ed the HHS Office for Civil Rights (the “OCR”) that, after they performed routine server maintenance for their Pocatello Family Medicine Clinic, technicians failed to put the server firewall back into place. This left the protected health information on 17,500 patients exposed […]
