Hospitals & Health Systems

Last week, U.S. Senators warned hospitals that higher rates of back surgery may indicate a kickback if the purchase of spinal devices has increased as a result of physician ownership of device distributors.  Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued the bipartisan statement based on an HHS report that showed a direct correlation between…

CMS continues to emphasize readmissions as a marker of quality.  CMS research shows that approximately 45% of hospital admissions among those receiving either Medicare skilled nursing services or Medicaid skilled nursing services could have been avoided.  Husch Blackwell attorneys Mark Chouteau and Michael Crowe recently authored an article in the October issue of AHLA Connections…

As the government shutdown drags on, some CMS activities are grinding to a halt. CMS recently released a memo to State Survey Agency Directors regarding which CMS survey and certification activities will continue and which ones have been put on hold for providers of all types. According to the memo, complaints that are triaged as…

In response to healthcare reform, terms such as “physician alignment strategies” and “physician integration” have resurfaced in our vocabulary as healthcare providers.  In our new healthcare environment, many experts advocate that only hospitals that are aligned, or integrated, with their physician providers will be able to organize delivery systems that are capable of meeting current and future demands for efficiency, quality, price and services expected from patients and payers.  As the demands on health care providers continue to escalate, will experts also someday advocate that only hospitals that are aligned with other hospitals, or other health systems, be positioned to meet the then-current and future expectations related to providing high-quality and cost-efficient health care?

As the future of hospital and physician alignment strategies continue to evolve, more physicians, hospitals and health systems are affiliating.  Even large organizations such hospitals and health systems are teaming together to form loose associations in order to better manage the demands for efficiency, quality, price and service being thrust upon all providers by health reform, payers and patients.

There are a number of recent examples of health systems and hospitals forming strategic alignments to better manage healthcare costs and patient care. 

Pursuant to the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently adopted a final rule implementing $1.1 billion in cuts to the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) program in 2014 and 2015.  The new rule reduces Medicaid DSH payments by $500 million in 2014 and $600 million in 2015.　

There are several…

Adoption of EHR technologies has greatly increased as the result of the EHR Incentive Program. Touted as one of the necessary building blocks for creating integrated delivery systems, EHR is considered vital to improve health quality, efficiency and patient safety.  The EHR Incentive Program has been very successful and CMS has awarded over $10…

During the recently concluded 2013 regular session, the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1191, which established new requirements for hospitals treating victims of sexual assault. The bill is primarily aimed at improving access to forensic examinations for survivors of sexual assault by ensuring that every Texas hospital with an emergency department has personnel who have basic training in forensic examinations. The changes are effective beginning Sept. 1, 2013.

SB 1191 sets out three new requirements for hospitals:

1. Any person who performs a forensic examination on a sexual assault survivor must have basic sexual assault forensic evidence collection training. Training approved or recognized by the appropriate licensing board satisfies this requirement.

2. Texas hospitals that have emergency departments, but which are not designated by a communitywide plan as the primary healthcare facility in the community for treating sexual assault providers, must:

a. Inform sexual assault survivors that the hospital is not a designated facility.

b. Provide sexual assault survivors with the name and location of a designated facility.

c. Inform survivors that they may choose to be transferred to a designated facility for care or receive care at the nondesignated facility.

d. If survivors choose to be transferred to the designated facility for care, stabilize and transfer the survivors to the designated facility after obtaining written, signed consent to do so.

Recent national tragedies have refocused the nation on an important question:

Can or should a physician face civil liability for failing to warn of the dangers posed by a patient who later commits violence?

Husch Blackwell attorneys Greg Minana and Justin Stephens addressed this question under Missouri law in an article published in the May/June issue of Missouri Medicine.   In…

Are you still trying to understand the changes made in the HIPAA Omnibus Rule?

Do you want an opportunity to ask questions and hear how other providers are handing HIPAA issues?

Do you need a chance to brush up on your HIPAA knowledge and evaluate current strategies? 

If so, then you should consider attending one…

Are healthcare providers at your facility texting patient information to each other?  This type of communication is becoming more and more common, but such text messages are often in violation of HIPAA.  To address this issue, Sprint announced last week that it is now offering two texting products that provide the proper security for PHI…