Archive for December 2017
Court Reverses itself (in Part) in Laboratory Testing Case
A federal court judge in the District of Columbia has reversed his previous ruling that found Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp. was legally obligated to ensure the medical necessity of tests when submitting claims to Medicare. However, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton did not go so far as to toss the lawsuit entirely, stating that…
Read MoreWhat You Should Know About OCR's HIPAA Privacy Audits
Have you received a request from HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) asking that you provide the name of your privacy official along with any additional criteria? If you have, then you likely are aware that you may be the focus of a HIPAA privacy audit. This is part of the Phase 2 HIPAA Audit…
Read MoreHealthcare Professionals a Big Part of the #MeToo Movement
By now you undoubtedly have read or heard stories about sexual harassment taking place in Hollywood, Washington and the workplace in general. The #MeToo movement is creating a groundswell of support for those who have been the target of sexual harassment, as well as causing many who may have remained silent to be heard. For…
Read MoreOIG Revokes Advisory Opinion on Patient-assistance Charity
In what is being called a first-of-its-kind move, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services late last month revoked an advisory opinion it issued, and later modified, relating to a patient-assistance charity. In its opinion, the OIG said it made its determination to revoke its original opinion “based…
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