The Alaska Department of Health and Human Service, the state’s Medicaid agency, has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $1.7 million to settle possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule.  According to a press release issued by the Office of Civil…

Another major drug company agreed to settle with the Department of Justice (DOJ). GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to pay a historic $3 billion and plead guilty to resolve its alleged criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s promotion of certain prescription drugs, failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged…

Is Your Organization Due for Re-certification by the Texas Medical Board?

If your organization is certified as a non-profit health corporation (formerly known as 5.01(a)s) under the Texas Occupations Code 161.001, your organization is required to submit a biennial report to the Texas Medical Board (TMB). For certified non-profit health organizations that were originally certified…

Clearing a building site inside a crowded city can often be efficiently done by “imploding” existing structures utilizing high explosives.  While the science of demolition by implosion is mature and can be implemented safely, neighboring property owners have legitimate concerns about damage from flying debris, dust, ground vibration and air blast overpressure.  At the same…

On February 22, 2012, the Supreme Court in Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California vacated and remanded to the Ninth Circuit a series of cases that challenge provider reimbursement cuts in California’s Medicaid program.  At issue in the case was whether providers and recipients had standing to sue state officials under the Supremacy…

On May 3, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Blog posted a delay to the implementation of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.  CMS stated that, in order to provide time for organizations to prepare for data submission and to sufficiently address the important input CMS received during the rulemaking process, CMS will…

Arbitration clauses in lease agreements have become commonplace and are often included as a matter of course. In theory, arbitration is supposed to be less expensive, provide faster results, and generally be more efficient than traditional litigation. In reality, many have found arbitration to be just as expensive as litigation, if not more so, and…

Husch Blackwell Healthcare Department Chair Curt Chase and his co-presenters explore common hospital/physician relationships that generate serious and complex compliance issues at HCCA’s 16th Annual Compliance Institute in Las Vegas, NV.  They provide methods for effectively auditing, managing and conducting internal investigations and evaluate disclosure options and appropriate fixes.

To read the presentation, click below.