On February 13, 2018, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement with a court-appointed receiver representing Filefax, Inc. (Filefax) arising from the 2015 discovery of medical records that...more
Last month, a U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida overturned judgments totaling $347,864,285 returned by a jury under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and Florida’s state equivalent against the owners and...more
On February 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released Transmittal 3971 (Change Request 10412), which revises a section of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Manual), that provides guidance...more
In a Draft Call Letter issued February 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is considering a number of new strategies to address opioid overutilization within the Medicare Part D...more
2/12/2018
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Comment Period ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare Part D ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Substance Abuse
In a long-awaited decision concerning the confidentiality of medical records and patient privacy, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently concluded that the physician-patient relationship establishes a duty of confidentiality...more
In a long-awaited decision concerning the confidentiality of medical records and patient privacy, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently concluded that the physician-patient relationship establishes a duty of confidentiality...more
Hospitals and hospital systems in Connecticut must file annual reports by January 15, 2018 describing (1) the activities of their group practices (e.g., medical foundations or faculty practice plans), and (2) their respective...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rare advisory opinion (CMS-AO-2017-1) under the Stark Law (Section 1877 of the Social Security Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1395) earlier this fall, addressing a...more
On December 13, 2017 a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and North Dakota Attorney General to preliminarily enjoin Sanford...more
Recent decisions in the Fourth and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals demonstrate the central role that the Supreme Court’s Escobar decision continues to play in fraud litigation despite, or as a result of, continued uncertainty...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued guidance intended to help clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) navigate an attestation required thereunder concerning the...more
11/6/2017
/ Alternative Payment Models (APM) ,
CEHRT ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
MIPS ,
PHI ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Quality Payment Program (QPP)
US-CERT Warns of New Ransomware: Bad Rabbit -
The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is warning companies in the U.S. about a new ransomware dubbed “Bad Rabbit.” US-CERT stated it has received multiple...more
11/3/2017
/ Airspace ,
Biometric Information ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Class Action ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Fingerprints ,
Hackers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hilton ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Hyatt ,
Information Technology ,
Internet of Things ,
LG Electronics ,
Malware ,
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
MIPS ,
NASA ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
US-CERT
Security researchers this week have found a new vulnerability that affects Wi-Fi Protected Access II, also known as WPA2, which is the security protocol used by many wireless networks. The vulnerability, Key Reinstallation...more
10/24/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Drones ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Hackers ,
Hyatt ,
Microsoft ,
Mobile Devices ,
Network Security ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Public Wireless Networks ,
Risk Management ,
SCOTUS ,
Stored Communications Act ,
US-CERT ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Wifi ,
Wireless Technology
In an order issued on October 16, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States v. Microsoft Corporation, a case with potentially far-reaching implications for the privacy of electronic data maintained by...more
10/20/2017
/ Certiorari ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Ireland ,
Microsoft ,
Popular ,
Search Warrant ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Subpoenas
The U.S. Supreme Court recently indicated that it will consider the federal government’s petition for a writ of certiorari in United States v. Microsoft Corp. at its conference scheduled for October 6, 2017. United States v....more
9/25/2017
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Ireland ,
Microsoft ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Search Warrant ,
Stored Communications Act
The Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Thomas B. Pahl, recently commenced a ‘Stick with Security’ series of blog posts that analyze the data security principles championed by the FTC in its Start with...more
On July 7, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a federal district court’s dismissal of a False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower suit in United States ex rel. Campie v. Gilead Sciences, explaining that...more
7/21/2017
/ Failure To State A Claim ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Implied Certification Theory ,
FDA Approval ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Gilead Sciences ,
Materiality ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reimbursements ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Whistleblowers
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy recently signed into law Public Act 17-241 (PA 17-241), which contains provisions concerning facility fees, the sending and receiving of electronic health records between hospitals and...more
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy recently signed into law Public Act 17-241 (PA 17-241), which contains provisions concerning facility fees, the sending and receiving of electronic health records between hospitals and...more
On June 23, 2017, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court requesting reversal of a 2016 decision in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
7/13/2017
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Microsoft ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Search Warrant ,
Solicitor General ,
Stored Communications Act
On June 30, 2017, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law An Act Preventing Prescription Opioid Diversion and Abuse (Public Act No. 17-131). This legislation addresses opioid drug abuse in Connecticut by...more
On June 22, 2017 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint and a request for a preliminary injunction in federal court to block a proposed physician practice acquisition in North Dakota (the...more
In May 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit relied on the “heightened materiality standard” endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2016 Escobar decision in dismissing a False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower...more
In response to the WannaCry ransomware attack that infiltrated the computer systems of health care systems and other entities worldwide on or around May 12, 2017, HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and...more
Governor Susana Martinez recently signed into law the New Mexico “Data Breach Notification Act” (the Act), making New Mexico the 48th state (plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) to adopt legislation mandating the...more