Inform Diagnostics, a Texas-based pathology laboratory company, will pay the federal government $63.5 million to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act (FCA). The U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement on January 30.

Inform Diagnostics was alleged to have engaged in improper financial relationships with physicians, including providing them with subsidies

On December 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on how the HIPAA rules, especially the Privacy Rule, could be modified to promote coordinated, value-based healthcare. A January 1 article in Health Law360 entitled “Health Care Policy Moves To

A recent study by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology revealed that most hospitals were still transmitting at least some patient medical records by mail or fax in 2017. The data showed that industry-wide electronic interoperability remains a distant goal.

According to the study, 66% of the hospitals surveyed sometimes sent

Advanced Care Hospitalists, PL (ACH), a Florida physician group, has learned that failing to enter into a proper business associate agreement (BAA) with a vendor can be a very costly mistake. As a result of that failure, ACH has paid a penalty of $500,000 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for

A December 4 article in Bloomberg Law’s Health Law & Business, “Florida Physicians Group Exposed 9,000 Patients’ Data to Web,” discussed a $500,000 HIPAA settlement entered into by Advanced Care Hospitalists (ACH), a Florida physician group, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Rivkin Radler’s Eric Fader was quoted

On November 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that certain policy changes in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule relating to the documentation, coding and payment structure of Evaluation and Management office/outpatient visits will now be delayed until 2021. The changes were originally set to go into effect on January 1,

Garmin International, best known in the U.S. for its GPS navigation units, has announced a collaboration with Fitabase to analyze digital health data from Garmin’s wearable devices, including activity trackers and smartwatches. The alliance puts Garmin in direct competition with Apple and Fitbit, both of which use data from their devices in healthcare research.

Fitabase,

As cybersecurity threats increase, the need for healthcare providers to conduct periodic security risk assessments as required by the HIPAA Security Rule has become more critical. To assist providers in this task, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and Office for Civil Rights

An October 16, 2018, article in Bloomberg Law’s Health Law & Business, “Anthem Data-Breach Settlement Sets Tone for Privacy Enforcement”, discussed Anthem, Inc.’s recent $16 million data breach settlement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The 2015 breach compromised the personal information of about 79 million people. Rivkin