Physician offices have seen a dramatic increase in telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. This development has raised questions regarding the appropriate standard of care when performing a telehealth examination, in particular the “physical examination.” Naturally this blog can never supplant the physician’s expertise in evaluating patients. As in other contexts, physicians practicing telemedicine should … Continue Reading
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to urgent changes to how and where healthcare services are delivered. These changes could require expedited entry into new or modified arrangements for the delivery of essential healthcare goods and services, creating potential conflicts with the Stark Law (Section 1877 of the Social Security Act) and its regulations and potential … Continue Reading
Despite Congress’ efforts to use riders to neutralize a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Act), the Federal government (Government) owes certain insurers $12 billion. On April 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled 8-1 that congressional riders added to appropriations bills that funded the Centers for Medicare & … Continue Reading
While the CARES Act signals relief for many healthcare providers, it is important to remember that there are strings attached and reasons for providers to involve their compliance departments in the use and tracking of the CARES Act relief funds. The CARES Act promised, through the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, to provide … Continue Reading
Even in this time of crisis, nothing has changed about a hospital’s obligation to comply with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance (available here) to, and some flexibility for, hospitals on how to provide care to the growing influx of patients … Continue Reading
The COVID 19 epidemic is bound to overwhelm available medical resources in the United States. Healthcare institutions and practitioners will be forced to make impossible life-or-death decisions regarding the allocation of manpower and supplies. They must also be ready to defend those decisions against a backlash of grief—and lawsuits—once the crisis has passed. A defensible … Continue Reading
The terms of a settlement that resolved antitrust litigation between the State of California and Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California, have now become public, almost two months after the settlement put an end to the case. The settlement, which was inked only days before a trial in the case was set … Continue Reading
The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal harmonized the interpretation of state statutory and constitutional language in the first post Amendment 7 case dealing with access to adverse medical incident reports and their use at trial. The Florida statutory prohibition against the use and admissibility of certain incident reports was postulated to conflict with the … Continue Reading
To bill or not to bill, that is the question. Or, more appropriately, who to bill and when to bill, that is the question. Providers who bill patients under the circumstances described below may face liability. What is a provider to do? A patient was injured in the course of her employment in December 2013 … Continue Reading
We are all too aware of the horrors of the Parkland shooting. In response to that awful day, the Florida Legislature enacted Florida Statute Section 790.401 in 2018, “the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act.” Part of this new law is the “red flag” provision which allows courts to proactively remove firearms from individuals … Continue Reading
Last Thursday, September 5, 2019, Judge James Moody, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a positive ruling for hospitals dealing with patient safety organization (PSO) data. The opinion can be reviewed here. Note, while this decision is not binding on state courts, it is persuasive authority. It … Continue Reading
Last month, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the analysis of the applicable statute of limitations under the False Claims Act (FCA) as set forth in 31 U.S.C. § 3731 is the same regardless of whether the government intervenes in the action or not. While the decision is not likely to … Continue Reading
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in its ruling in Cochise Consultancy Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Hunt, created a 3-way circuit split regarding the determination of the applicable statute of limitations period in a False Claims Act (FCA) case. On March 19, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument on the matter, … Continue Reading
In a somewhat unexpected but highly significant move, United States District Judge David Procter (Northern District of Alabama), who is presiding over the In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation (Case No. 2:13-cv-20000, N.D. Alabama), has granted defendants’ request that he certify his ruling that the defendants’ alleged conduct should be assessed under a … Continue Reading
Walgreens and Kroger have filed an antitrust action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania accusing Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of engaging in anticompetitive conduct designed to stymie the growth of biosimilar alternatives to J&J’s Remicade, a biologic drug used to treat certain chronic immune disorders (Walgreen Co. v. Johnson … Continue Reading
Employers may require employees to enter into arbitration agreements that waive such employees’ ability to participate in a class or collective action lawsuit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week. In a long-awaited decision that represents a significant victory for employers, the Court in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis held that such agreements do not … Continue Reading
Three health insurers accused of having violated the antitrust laws in Academy of Allergy & Asthma in Primary Care v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, et al. (Eastern District of Louisiana), have filed motions seeking a swift win in the matter prior to the commencement of discovery. In support of their request, Humana, Blue … Continue Reading
In what was a surprise result, on April 23, Judge William Smith (Chief Judge of the District of Rhode Island) reversed the “tentative” decision he had announced last November, in Steward Health v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which would have granted defendant Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBS-RI) … Continue Reading
On April 5, United States District Judge David Proctor (N.D. Alabama) granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs in the In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, ruling that a network of trademark licensing agreements between the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member insurance companies (referred to as the ‘Blues’), which plaintiffs … Continue Reading
In 2012, Marion Healthcare, an outpatient surgery center in southern Illinois, commenced an antitrust action against Southern Illinois Healthcare (“SIH”), a multi-hospital system operating in the same market. Marion alleged that SIH had negotiated exclusive dealing relationships with several area health insurers, and that these agreements made it difficult, if not impossible, for Marion to … Continue Reading
For years, CMS has had the authority to refuse to enroll new Medicare providers if they or their owners have an unpaid Medicare overpayment, but CMS was not exercising this authority. Now, it appears that CMS is going to start. In January, CMS published Transmittal 1998 announcing that it intends to begin denying provider enrollment … Continue Reading
Defendants have faced an ever increasing number of qui tam actions, yet the government has historically declined to seek dismissal of those actions where it declined to intervene. On January 10, 2018, the Director of the DOJ Civil Division Commercial Litigation Branch’s Fraud Section issued a memorandum to all DOJ attorneys, including AUSAs, advising them … Continue Reading
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated a large jury verdict in a False Claims Act case against the owners and operators of nursing homes because the evidence did not satisfy the materiality standards articulated in the U.S Supreme Court’s 2016 opinion in Universal Health Services v. Escobar. The court’s … Continue Reading
After Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, a nursing home in South Florida lost power, and several residents of that nursing home died allegedly as the result of increased temperatures caused by the loss of air conditioning. In the immediate aftermath of this tragic accident, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) (for nursing homes) … Continue Reading
