Category: Legal Watch
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FIVE TIPS FOR MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION YOUR LAWYER WANTS YOU TO KNOW (AND FOLLOW)
By Angie Cameron Smith, Burr & Forman, LLP Good documentation is important for many reasons: continuity of care, compliance, and risk management to name a few. Documentation supports payment for services but can also form the basis of medical malpractice cases, whether it be lack of documentation, improper documentation or poor documentation. Therefore, it is…
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Federal District Court Issues First Court Opinion Regarding EKRA’s Commission Based Payments
By James A. Hoover, Esq., Burr & Forman, LLP A Federal District Judge in the United States District Court, District of Hawaii issued the first court opinion interpreting the prohibition of the payment of commissions by clinical laboratories to employees or independent contractors that was implemented by the Eliminating Kickback in Recovery Act of 2018…
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Supreme Court Rules on Vaccine Mandates
By: Brandy A. Boone, General Counsel of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama The US Supreme Court (“the Court”) recently released differing opinions on the two-part Biden administration vaccine mandate. In Biden v. Missouri1, the Court lifted a US District Court’s stay on enforcement of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS)…
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NEW STATE OF EMERGENCY PROVIDES HEALTHCARE PROVIDER FLEXIBILITIES
By Angie Cameron Smith with Burr & Forman, LLP On July 6, 2021 Governor Kay Ivey allowed the State of Emergency in Alabama to expire. She had previously proclaimed a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 Pandemic effective March 13, 2020. Along with that proclamation, came the invocation of Alabama’s Emergency Management Act. When…
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OSHA Issues COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the Healthcare Industry
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the healthcare industry on June 21, 2021.[1] The Occupational Safety and Health Act (“the Act”) passed in 1970 and created OSHA to administer the Act. It has been thirty-eight years since OSHA issued its last ETS. That ETS was issued in…
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Potential HIPAA Changes That Would Allow Healthcare Providers to Disclose Phi and Better Protect Patients
by Lindsey Phillips, Burr & Forman On December 10, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced proposed changes to the regulations implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The proposed changes, which are set out in the Notice of…
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Physician Recruitment Agreements – What You Need to Know
by Howard E. Bogard Both the federal Anti-kickback Statute and the Stark Law allow a hospital to provide certain financial assistance to aid a medical practice in its efforts to recruit and hire a new physician. Financial assistance can take many forms, including a collection guarantee, net income guarantee and/or payments with respect to a…
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Are You Ready for Your PPP Loan Audit?
By: Jim Hoover, Burr & Forman PPP loans received by individuals and businesses under the CARES Act will be audited (“reviewed”) by the SBA. PPP loans of $2 million or more will automatically be audited by the SBA. Many PPP loans of less than $2 million will also be audited. Borrowers will often receive notification…
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Physician Compensation Models in Light of Recent Stark Law Changes
by Kelli C. Fleming, Burr Forman On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized sweeping changes to the federal Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law. At least one such change may materially impact how physician group practices allocate profits from Stark Law designated health services (“DHS”). Under…
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CMS and OIG Issue Historic Revisions to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law
By: Anthony Romano with Burr Forman On November 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services issued two significant final rules to reform the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law in an aim to reduce regulatory barriers to coordination of patient…