RECENT HEALTH LAW NEWS

In an effort to provide further clarity to school administrators, healthcare professionals and families, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released updated joint guidance addressing the application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the HIPAA Privacy

Alabama’s DCH Health System is facing a federal lawsuit filed by some former patients who allege it was negligent in discovering and responding to a ransomware attack on its computer system. In addition to negligence, the complaint accuses DCH of invasion of privacy, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things. The

Rivkin Radler’s Evan Krinick authored an article for the New York Law Journal, “The Broad Reach of the Medicare Fraud Strike Forces.” The article discusses recent strike force actions in New York and New Jersey that targeted a variety of healthcare fraud schemes.

A December 16 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) estimated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made tens of millions of dollars of inflated Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments over a four-year period. OIG examined a sample of 99 payments made

Sutter Health, a northern California health system, will pay $575 million to settle allegations that it violated federal antitrust laws. The settlement comes on the heels of Sutter’s recent $45 million settlement of alleged Stark Law violations, as discussed here.

Under the preliminary settlement, which is pending court approval, Sutter will be required to reform

A Florida primary care and pain management practice that calls itself Korunda Medical Institute has paid the federal government $85,000 to settle a violation of HIPAA’s right of access provisions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the settlement on December 12.

A Korunda patient filed a complaint with HHS’s Office for

The U.S. Department of Justice’s campaign against genetic testing scams continues and the latest accused lab owner is set to plead guilty. Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized Genetics in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in nearby Monroeville, was charged in November with paying kickbacks in a conspiracy to induce referrals for $127 million

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on November 27 that Sentara Healthcare agreed to pay $2.175 million to settle allegations that it failed to properly report a breach of protected health information. Sentara operates 12 acute care hospitals and provides other types of care at more than

The annual December 31st deadline for certain Medicaid providers and third-party billers to certify as to the effectiveness of their compliance program is fast approaching.

New York State Medicaid providers and third-party billing companies who claim, bill, order or receive at least $500,000 in any consecutive 12-month period from the Medicaid Program or Managed Medicaid

Eric Fader contributed to Healthcare Risk Management’s HIPAA Regulatory Alert, which appeared in the publication’s December 2019 issue. The Alert outlines the best practices that will help avoid common HIPAA violations. Eric discusses the events that might trigger a regulatory action and the kinds of violations that may affect the severity of the penalties and fines.