Pharmacists can now engage in a new role in the battle against COVID-19 – testing patients for the virus. Recognizing the advanced health care training that pharmacists receive and the unique consumer access to community pharmacies during the Pandemic, the Florida Department of Health has designated pharmacists as medical professionals authorized to order and provide COVID-19 tests. Additionally, pharmacies, as … Continue Reading
Category Archives: Hospitals & Health Systems
Subscribe to Hospitals & Health Systems RSS FeedBuyer Beware – FBI Warns of Fraud Involving Procurement of PPE and Other COVID-19 Supplies
Many employers are now making plans to have their employees return to the workplace. Based on recent alerts from the FBI, part of preparing to protect workers from COVID-19 at work should include protecting the company from falling prey to fraudsters. To do that, employers should put in place procedures to carefully screen vendors from whom they will purchase COVID-19 … Continue Reading
Accepting CARES Act Relief Funds for Health Care Providers? Tell Your Compliance Department
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 $100 billion in relief funds … Continue Reading
Prescribing in Florida During the Pandemic-What is allowed, What are the gaps, and How do we fill them?
The catchphrase of the day is “social distancing” and it is the primary means of flattening the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Pandemic”) curve by keeping contagious and healthy people apart. However, there is another kind of distancing that may play a role in fighting the Pandemic – “health care distancing.” Health care distancing is a mechanism to keep the sick patients, … Continue Reading
Some Things Never Change: EMTALA in the Time of COVID-19
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 during the COVID-19 pandemic.… Continue Reading
COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Virus to Fear: Cybersecurity Attackers Target Hospitals Amidst COVID-19
Among the many obstacles facing businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are new cyberattacks targeting key infrastructure and industry in the United States. With all the compounding factors making this threat even more dangerous, the spike in cyberattacks was so significant that the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has become involved and issued a “purple notice” alert to … Continue Reading
It’s More than PPE – Infection Control in Different Facility Settings
Facing unprecedented community spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided additional guidance to a variety of health care providers that is designed to minimize further transmission of the disease. CMS responds to frequently asked questions related to the logistics for minimizing transmission of COVID-19 in various patient settings. Specifically, … Continue Reading
California Telehealth Updates
California has joined the growing ranks of states, as well as the federal government, in efforts to facilitate the efficient provision of healthcare services during the pandemic. Accordingly, in response to federal agency updates with respect to relaxations to existing requirements related to telehealth services, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order No. 43-20 on April 3, 2020 (the … Continue Reading
Taking Triage to Trial
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 triage protocol must enable reasonable … Continue Reading
North Carolina Telehealth Updates
North Carolina has drastically expanded its telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to give individuals increased access to remote care. The following article outlines many of the important changes implemented.
Licensure
On March 10, 2020, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 116 (available here) waiving the requirement that healthcare and behavioral healthcare personnel be licensed in … Continue Reading
Texas Telemedicine Updates
As with other states, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidance that the federal government has issued (see here), Governor Abbott of Texas issued a disaster declaration on March 13, 2020 (the Disaster Declaration) resulting in the loosening of certain existing telemedicine and telehealth related requirements in Texas.
Licensure.
For current license holders, the Texas … Continue Reading
COVID-19: Florida Executive Order on Elective Healthcare Services
In an effort to preserve healthcare resources (e.g., personal protective equipment), limit potential contact with infected individuals, and free up healthcare practitioners to assist with those suffering from COVID-19, elective healthcare services must cease. Specifically, on March 20, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-72 (available here), requiring all Florida licensed healthcare practitioners to immediately cease performing … Continue Reading
Florida Telehealth Updates
In response to the public health emergency declared in Florida on March 1, 2020, Florida loosened existing licensure and other telehealth requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as outlined below.
However, unless specifically waived or relaxed by the Orders (as defined below), all current minimum practice requirements and standards of care for telehealth services set forth under F.S.A. §456.47 … Continue Reading
Illinois Telehealth Updates
Like many other states, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidance that the federal government has issued, Governor Pritzker of Illinois issued an executive order (2020-09) on March 19, 2020, amending and relaxing existing telehealth related requirements under 225 ILCS 60/49.5 regarding: (1) telemedicine services provided by licensed Illinois physicians; (2) telemedicine and telepsychiatry services provided to Illinois … Continue Reading
Breaking Developments for Telehealth and Teleprescribing in Georgia
Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has created a great degree of liberalization in the telehealth requirements previously in place. What has not changed is the fact that telehealth services are governed by a number of different laws and regulations, all of which are constantly changing – now more than ever. In addition to the multiple changes at the federal level, what follows is … Continue Reading
OCR COVID-19 Updates on HIPAA and Anti-Discrimination Laws
Hospitals will have a limited waiver of HIPAA sanctions and penalties during the COVID-19 outbreak as a result of a bulletin issued on March 16, 2020 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Civil Rights also issued a reminder that even during a medical emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, all health care providers must comply … Continue Reading
Managing the Healthcare Workplace During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Healthcare providers have special concerns for their employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic.
Because COVID-19 spreads primarily as a result of close exposure to an infected person, healthcare employees are at higher risk of infection. While OSHA has a standard to protect employees from the spread of bloodborne pathogens, it currently has no standard for the spread of … Continue Reading
FTC Brings First Hospital Merger Challenge Since 2016
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on February 27 that it has filed an administrative complaint challenging the proposed merger of Jefferson Health (Jefferson) and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (Einstein), two Philadelphia-area hospital systems. The action is the FTC’s first hospital merger challenge since late 2016, when the agency successfully challenged the Hershey/Pinnacle Health transaction, also in Pennsylvania.
In this … Continue Reading
Sutter Health Settles California Attorney General Antitrust Case With Cash and an Agreement to Make Significant Changes to its Operations
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 to begin, includes both the … Continue Reading
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
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 state constitutional access to adverse … Continue Reading
Direct Patient Billing Can Create Provider Liability in Florida
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 and applied for workers’ compensation … Continue Reading
Addressing Acute Mental Health Concerns: Parkland’s Legacy – Florida’s Red Flag Law
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 who pose a significant danger … Continue Reading
Healthcare Providers Must Remember HIPAA Before Responding to Online Reviews
The latest HIPAA resolution agreement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a reminder that healthcare providers must take the high road when responding to unflattering online reviews by patients. While it is tempting to respond to a bad and perhaps untrue online review, healthcare providers need to take care to not … Continue Reading
Possible Relief for Hospitals in the Protection of PSO Information?
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 may be used to … Continue Reading
