On March 30th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued blanket waivers (Blanket Waivers) of sanctions under the federal physician self-referral law (Stark Law) to relax regulatory requirements related to...more
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Drug Control Division (DCP) has issued guidance for health care providers regarding refills and reissuances of controlled substance prescriptions for patients without an...more
The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) issued its third guidance document related to CON requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 25, in which OHS waives CON approval requirements for hospitals seeking...more
Having been “inundated with questions from both state regulators and the regulated community about how to handle the current extraordinary situation,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced a temporary...more
On March 27, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, or the Act), Public Law 116-136, a trillion-dollar stimulus bill intended to provide financial assistance to individuals and...more
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to sweep the nation, the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" (FFCRA) was approved by Congress and signed into law by the President on March 18, 2020, in an attempt to...more
4/1/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EFMLA ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
COVID-19 Vaccine Test Lab Hit by Maze Ransomware -
Despite the fact that the hackers behind Maze ransomware previously promised not to hit medical organizations during the coronavirus pandemic, the ransomware recently...more
3/31/2020
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Ransomware ,
Spam ,
Telecommuting ,
Telehealth
On March 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued new HIPAA guidance to help providers and first responders in efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic....more
On March 24, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint statement on COVID-19-related antitrust enforcement highlighting ways “firms, including competitors, can engage in...more
On March 20, the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) issued new guidance (Guidance) on the process for requesting a certificate of need (CON) waiver for projects related to the COVID-19 response. See our analysis of...more
On March 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued additional guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on HIPAA and telehealth services to help providers furnish care during the...more
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to sweep the nation, the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" (the Act) was approved by Congress and signed into law by the President on March 18, 2020 in an attempt to...more
On March 19, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7G, which is intended to expand access to telehealth services for Connecticut residents amidst the COVID-19 pandemic....more
As part of Executive Order No. 7F issued on March 18, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont authorized the Commissioner of the Department Social Services (DSS) to “temporarily waive any requirements” set forth in state law,...more
Moving quickly to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, New York adopted sweeping legislation providing for paid and unpaid sick leave to all New York employees.
...more
On March 17 the Trump Administration announced expanded reimbursement for clinicians providing telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...more
3/19/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Trump Administration
On March 16, Connecticut agencies released two important guidance documents for state health care providers and organizations confronting the COVID-19 pandemic...more
3/18/2020
/ Certificate of Need ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deregulation ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Reviewability Determinations ,
State and Local Government
Following the President’s proclamation on March 13 that the COVID-19 outbreak constitutes a national emergency, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar issued a Waiver or Modification of...more
3/17/2020
/ Acute Facilities ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health Care Providers ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Secretary of HHS ,
Skilled Nursing Facility ,
Social Security Act ,
Waivers
Over the weekend, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued a new Executive Order 7C, which has significant implications for facilities in Connecticut that provide mental health treatment amidst the COVID-19 outbreak....more
3/17/2020
/ China ,
Confidential Communications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Mental Health ,
Public Health ,
State and Local Government
On February 27, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an action to block a proposed transaction between Thomas Jefferson University d/b/a Jefferson Health (Jefferson) and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network...more
3/6/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Merger Agreements
On February 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a bulletin (the Bulletin) to remind covered entities and business associates of how patient information may be shared under HIPAA in the event...more
2/10/2020
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disclosure ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Popular
Researchers at Sentinel One and Dragos have detected malicious code, called EKANS or Snake, that has been designed specifically to target industrial control systems (ICS), including those of oil refineries, manufacturing...more
2/7/2020
/ China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drones ,
Hackers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Identity Theft ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Malware ,
Medical Records ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Point of Sale Terminals ,
Public Health ,
Retailers ,
Tax Fraud ,
Vulnerability Assessments
On January 27, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $145 million settlement with Practice Fusion Inc., an electronic health records (EHR) software company, that resolves parallel criminal and civil investigations...more
1/31/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EHR ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fines ,
Forfeiture ,
Health Care Providers ,
Opioid ,
Patients ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
PHI ,
Prescription Drugs
It is being reported that LifeLabs, a Canadian lab company that is the largest provider of laboratory diagnostics and lab testing services in Canada, recently paid an undisclosed ransom to hackers who compromised its computer...more
12/23/2019
/ Biometric Information ,
Clinical Laboratories ,
Connected Cars ,
Connected Items ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Extradition ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Identity Theft ,
Information Technology ,
Malware ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Ransomware ,
Settlement
On December 12, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second “HIPAA Right of Access Initiative” settlement of alleged HIPAA violations....more