Elizabeth F. Hodge

Photo of Elizabeth F. Hodge

A former president of the Florida Academy of Healthcare Attorneys, Betsy Hodge concentrates her practice on compliance and regulatory issues affecting health care providers and payers and employer-sponsored health plans. Betsy has significant experience with HIPAA and the HITECH Act and assists covered entities and business associates in complying with these laws through the development of policies and procedures, workforce training, analysis and notification of breaches, and assisting with government audits and investigations.  In addition, she counsels her clients on regulatory issues, including state and federal fraud and abuse laws.

 

Subscribe to all posts by Elizabeth F. Hodge

Can We Talk? Florida Court Rejects Latest Challenge to Med Mal Presuit Authorization Law

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Thomas A. Range on Posted in Electronic Health Records & Medical Records, Healthcare Law, Healthcare Litigation, HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
In the latest challenge to a Florida law designed to promote early settlement of meritorious medical malpractice claims, the Florida First District Court of Appeal recently rejected a plaintiff’s arguments that 2013 amendments to the law violated the Florida Constitution. See Weaver v. Myers, Case No. 1D14-3178 (Fla. 1st DCA July 21, 2015). The court also … Continue Reading

Recent HHS Settlement Highlights Risks of Electronically-Sharing Protected Health Information

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Thomas A. Range on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
On July 10, 2015, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second settlement of the year for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (SEMC), a tertiary care hospital in Massachusetts, must pay $218,400 and adopt a “robust corrective … Continue Reading

IRS Says Hospitals Must List Physicians in Financial Assistance Policies

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Jane K. McCahill on Posted in Affordable Care Act and Other Healthcare Reform Legislation, Hospitals & Health Systems, Tax Exempt
On June 26, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance to clarify how charitable hospitals may comply with regulations issued by the Department of Treasury under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The regulations implementing Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code require hospitals to include a list of covered providers in … Continue Reading

HHS Settlement: Dumpster-Diving Leads to Settlement for Improper Disposal of Documents Containing Protected Health Information

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Thomas A. Range on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Security
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS) recently announced that it has reached an agreement with a small pharmacy to resolve potential HIPAA violations. The settlement arose from the disposal of unsecured paper documents containing protected health information (PHI) of the Pharmacy’s customers. The more well-known data breaches usually … Continue Reading

Talk Amongst Yourselves: HIPAA Does Not Preempt Florida Med Mal Presuit Authorization Law

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Thomas A. Range on Posted in Electronic Health Records & Medical Records, Physicians
A federal appellate court recently concluded that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) does not preempt a Florida law that requires aggrieved patients to authorize the release of their protected health information as a presuit condition to suing a medical provider for negligence. See Murphy v. Dulay (11th Cir. Oct. 10, … Continue Reading

Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 – Florida Means Business When It Comes to Protecting Customers’ Personal Information

By Robert E. Slavkin and Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Electronic Health Records & Medical Records, Government Affairs, Licensure & Regulatory
On June 20, 2014, Governor Rick Scott signed into law the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 (“FIPA”), which became effective July 1, 2014. FIPA expands the obligations of businesses and government entities that maintain data containing personal information of individuals to safeguard and provide notice of breaches of such information. As a result, Florida … Continue Reading

New OIG Special Fraud Alert Aimed at Laboratory Payments to Referring Physicians

By Michael P. Gennett, Elizabeth F. Hodge and Joseph W. N. Rugg on Posted in Fraud & Abuse & False Claims Act, Laboratories, Physicians
On June 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert entitled “Laboratory Payments to Referring Physicians.” While the Alert breaks no new ground (see, e.g., its 1994 Special Fraud Alert), it demonstrates the OIG’s continuing concerns about clinical laboratories’ offering inducements to referring … Continue Reading

Patient Records: Increasing Exposure for Privacy Breaches

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Karen M. Buesing on Posted in Hospitals & Health Systems, Physicians
Healthcare providers and businesses that store or process protected health information (“PHI”) face increased scrutiny and significant fines for data privacy breaches and security lapses in the coming months. In the past 12 months, the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has recovered more than $10 million in fines … Continue Reading

The Downside to Sharing – Two Hospitals to Pay Largest HIPAA Fine Yet

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Hospitals & Health Systems, Physicians
On May 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights  (“OCR”) announced the largest settlement to date under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).  New York and Presbyterian Hospital (“NYP”) and Columbia University (“Columbia”) agreed to pay $4.8 million and enter into resolution agreements as … Continue Reading

The Government is Here to Help: HHS Releases HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool for Small Providers

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Physicians
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) has just released a new security risk assessment (“SRA”) tool to assist small and medium sized health care practices (one to ten providers) conduct a HIPAA risk assessment of their organization. The HIPAA Security Rule requires that all health care organizations that are HIPAA covered entities … Continue Reading

CMS Now Requiring Qualified Health Plans to Accept Premium Payments from Certain Third Parties

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Fraud & Abuse & False Claims Act, Health Insurers & Managed Care Organizations, Hospitals & Health Systems
As previously reported on November 13, 2013 and February 20, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has attempted to provide guidance as to when it is appropriate for issuers of “qualified health plans” (“QHPs”) to accept third parties premium payments on behalf of individuals. On March 19, 2014, CMS reinforced its February … Continue Reading

Unique Data Breach Settlement – A Sign of Things to Come?

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Health Insurers & Managed Care Organizations, HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
A judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has approved a $3 million data breach class action settlement agreement between AvMed, Inc. and plaintiffs. The settlement arises out of a December 2009 theft of unencrypted laptops containing the personal information of individuals who received  healthcare coverage through AvMed and … Continue Reading

35 Days and Counting – R.I.P. Windows XP

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Technology
Effective April 9, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support or security updates for the Windows XP operating system. According to Microsoft, personal computers running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not be considered to be protected. This announcement means that covered entities and business associates under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability … Continue Reading

HHS Allows Third-Party Premium Payments by Tribes and Non-Profits

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Sheryl D. Rosen on Posted in Fraud & Abuse & False Claims Act, Health Insurers & Managed Care Organizations, Hospitals & Health Systems
We previously reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) has discouraged hospitals and other third parties from paying patients’ premiums or cost-sharing. HHS stated in its November 4, 2013 FAQ that it “has significant concerns with this practice because it could skew the insurance risk pool and create an unlevel field … Continue Reading

New Privacy Rule Gives Patients Right to Access Lab Test Reports

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Laboratories, Physicians
On February 6, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) issued a final rule amending the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to provide … Continue Reading

Accretive Health Data Breach Leads to Twenty-Year Settlement with the FTC

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
On December 31, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that Accretive Health, Inc., (“Accretive”) agreed to settle charges that the company’s inadequate data security measures exposed sensitive consumer information to the risk of theft or misuse. Accretive provides medical billing and revenue management services to hospitals around the country. Accretive experienced a data breach … Continue Reading

“Meaningful” Errors Require Hospital System to Refund $31M

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Ari H. Gerstin on Posted in Electronic Health Records & Medical Records, Medicare & Medicaid, Physicians
In what is reported to be the largest repayment to date involving “meaningful use” incentive payments, Naples, Florida-based Health Management Associates, Inc. (“HMA”), with 71 inpatient facilities in 15 states, including Florida, recently voluntarily notified the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) that it erroneously certified its electronic health record (“EHR”) technology in the … Continue Reading

It’s Never too Late to Give Guidance: OCR Starts Releasing HIPAA Omnibus Rule Guidance in Anticipation of September 23 Compliance Deadline

By Adam R. Maingot, Richard T. Jones and Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Laboratories, Physicians
This has been a busy week for the Department of Health and Human Services / Office for Civil Rights (HHS/OCR).  It has started releasing guidance on various provisions of the Omnibus HIPAA final rule (the “Final Rule”) in advance of the September 23, 2013 compliance date.  The guidance includes: 1. Model Notices of Privacy Practices A … Continue Reading

EHR Meaningful Use Audits Come to Florida

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Ari H. Gerstin on Posted in Electronic Health Records & Medical Records, Medicare & Medicaid
As previously reported, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to audit healthcare providers that received incentive payments to adopt electronic health record (EHR) technology. We have now received reports confirming that certain provider entities have been audited in Florida regarding these EHR incentive payments.  The … Continue Reading

HIPAA Update- A Mixed Bag for Covered Entities

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Health Insurers & Managed Care Organizations, HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security, Hospitals & Health Systems
System Upgrade? On July 11, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had reached a $1.7 million settlement with managed-care company Wellpoint, Inc., to resolve “potential” violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules.  The settlement arises out of a computer system … Continue Reading

Tuomey Standing Firm in Face of “Stark” Penalties

By Ari H. Gerstin and Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Fraud & Abuse & False Claims Act, Healthcare Litigation, Hospitals & Health Systems
The next round in United States ex. rel. Drakeford v. Tuomey Healthcare System, Inc., is underway and Tuomey Healthcare keeps fighting.  As previously reported, on May 8, 2013, a federal jury found that Tuomey Healthcare System, a non-profit system in South Carolina, violated the Stark law and the False Claims Act in connection with its … Continue Reading

Second Time Around Tuomey Healthcare System is Found to Have Violated Stark Law and False Claims Act; Faces Penalties of up to $357 Million

By Elizabeth F. Hodge and Ari H. Gerstin on Posted in Fraud & Abuse & False Claims Act, Hospitals & Health Systems, Physicians
In the ongoing saga of U.S. ex. rel. Drakeford v. Tuomey Healthcare System, Inc., on May 8, 2013, a South Carolina jury found that Tuomey violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act.  The jury determined that Tuomey submitted over 21,000 improper claims, totaling $39 million. When penalties and treble damages of up to … Continue Reading

Move to Amend HIPAA Privacy Rule to Allow Firearm Background Check Reporting

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced via an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that it is considering amending the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule. The proposed amendment would expressly permit covered entities holding information about the identities of individuals who … Continue Reading

Healthcare Providers (and Business Associates) Beware: Plaintiffs Using Novel Theories When Suing for Breaches of Protected Health Information

By Elizabeth F. Hodge on Posted in Healthcare Litigation, HIPAA, Privacy, and Data Security
Healthcare providers, other covered entities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), and now HIPAA business associates, should be aware that patients who believe that their protected health information (PHI) has been improperly accessed are suing those required to protect the privacy and security of PHI based on some novel legal … Continue Reading
LexBlog