In a January 10, 2018 memo that leaked last week (the “Granston Memo”), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) directs its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless False Claims Act (FCA) cases brought by whistleblowers. We have long argued DOJ dismissal is an underused tool provided by the FCA. See “Dismissing FCA Cases Over…… Continue reading this entry
The Maryland Board of Physicians evaluated, then tabled for further consideration, a set of new telehealth rules designed to expand the opportunities for hospitals and providers to deliver virtual care services in Baltimore and throughout the State. The Board held a public hearing on January 24, 2018 to review proposed telehealth rules originally issued late…… Continue reading this entry
On January 9, 2018, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary bundled payment model program – Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced). The episode payment model, which is a second generation version of the BPCI program, will qualify as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) under the Quality…… Continue reading this entry
New federal regulations published on January 3, 2018, clarify when lawful holders of substance-use disorder records may use and disclose patient identifying information for payment, health care operations, and audits and evaluations. The 2018 regulations address issues that were discussed, but not resolved, in last year’s final rule published on January 18, 2017. The 2017…… Continue reading this entry
On Friday, December 29, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dealt a blow to hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. By participating in the 340B program, eligible public and not-for-profit hospitals receive significant discounts on the cost of acquiring outpatient prescription drugs. The court ruled in favor of the…… Continue reading this entry
In early December, leading experts in digital health and telemedicine came together at the Digital Health Care Investors Summit hosted by Foley & Lardner LLP and Deloitte. The Summit explored innovations in digital health care technology that help promote continuity of care and increase patient access to health care services. The program began by discussing…… Continue reading this entry
In a previous blog post, we began to dissect the new Massachusetts State Senate bill, “An Act Furthering Health Empowerment and Affordability by Leveraging Transformative Health Care,” and focused on a provision that would ban hospitals from billing payors for many common outpatient hospital services. In this second of a multipart series, we review how…… Continue reading this entry
Following on the heels of its plans to review Medicare payments for telehealth services, the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) just announced a new project to review state Medicaid payments for telemedicine and other remote services. Accordingly, providers who bill state Medicaid programs for telemedicine,…… Continue reading this entry
When we launched Foley’s inaugural Telemedicine and Digital Health Survey in 2014, it was apparent that health care executives weren’t ready to make telemedicine a significant focus of their business and patient strategies. The interest was there but, despite tremendous technological breakthroughs and imaginative applications, most telemedicine programs were in the early stages and there…… Continue reading this entry
In a striking blow to 340B hospitals, the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule adopting its earlier proposal to significantly reduce Medicare reimbursement for separately payable outpatient drugs purchased by hospitals under the 340B program. The final rule…… Continue reading this entry