data mining

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently released Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices: Managing Threats and Protecting Patients (HICP). DHHS states that the purpose of the HICP is to: Raise awareness of cybersecurity; Provide vetted cybersecurity practices; Move organizations towards consistency in mitigating cybersecurity threats to the sector; Aid health care and public…… Continue reading this entry

drug testing

On December 11, 2018, U.S. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a new hazardous waste pharmaceutical rule. The final rule retains a proposed requirement, opposed by industry, that prescription pharmaceuticals sent from health care facilities to reverse distributors first be considered “disposed of,” regulated as solid waste and evaluated for hazardous classification at the health…… Continue reading this entry

telemedicine rules in D.C.

Last week, a federal district court held that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded his authority when he reduced Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) reimbursement to hospitals for most separately payable drugs purchased under the 340B program by almost 30%. The court—hearing the case for the second time…… Continue reading this entry

healthcare partnerships

As noted in previous Health Care Law Today blog posts, we have seen an uptick in private equity recapitalization transactions in orthopedics. We expect this trend to continue, and to pick up pace, as the economy remains robust and the appetite for the most lucrative physician practices increases. When coupled with an increasing maturation of…… Continue reading this entry

Justice Reed O’Connor’s recent decision, Texas et al. v. U.S. et al., No. 4:18-cv-00167-O (E.D. Tex. Dec. 14, 2018), to strike down the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 42 U.S.C. § 18001 et seq. (2010) (the ACA) as unconstitutional not only threatens to dismantle health coverage for millions of Americans and protections for…… Continue reading this entry

hospital

On December 12, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), requested public comments on potential changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s regulations (HIPAA) that are perceived to be burdensome by the industry. The Request for Information (RFI) focuses on HIPAA requirements that limit or…… Continue reading this entry

healthcare partnerships

The medical credentialing process, whether for a hospital, a hospital system or a health plan, has emerged as a potential early target for the application of blockchain technology and administration.1 It is a process that allows a secure database to be established over time and on a cumulative basis. Medical credentialing involves verifying whether a…… Continue reading this entry