A New Perspective from CMS? Medicare, Stark Law and Whistleblower Changes on Deck

cms medicare regulations

medicare stark lawBy: Dave Davidson

Over the past several months, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken a number of steps that show an awareness of the regulatory burden placed upon participants in the government’s health care programs, and even some willingness to consider reducing those burdens.  While it remains to be seen whether the recent proposals will have measurable results, the following actions can still be viewed with guarded optimism.

Proposed Changes to Medicare

In July, 2018, CMS proposed significant changes to Medicare, to be included in rules that take effect in 2019.  These changes cover physician fee schedules, streamlining Evaluation & Management (E&M) billing, advancing “virtual care,” decreasing drug costs, revising the MIPS program and establishing the MAQI demonstration project.  The agency also asked for comments on price transparency issues.Continue reading

GDPR Compliance: Has Your Company Prepared for the Heightened Data Privacy Regulations?

litigation lawyer in Florida

“Protecting someone else’s data protects all of us.” Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

General Data Protection Regulation

By: Shobha Lizaso

We are in the age of electronic data and heightened data privacy. New laws to strengthen individuals’ privacy rights and to strengthen data protection are evolving worldwide. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes protections for the privacy and security of personal data about residents of the European Union. This new law affects US healthcare providers and organizations that provide services to residents of any of the EU countries, that collect data from EU residents or monitors EU residents through the use of cookies and the like, and practitioners involved in medical tourism programs and other clinical activities. GDPR imposes more restrictions on the collection, use, processing, storage, disclosure, and disposition of patient data than HIPAA.

GDPR became effective on May 25, 2018, and there will not be a compliance grace period, so healthcare providers should meet with their healthcare technology attorney to determine whether they are subject to the GDPR, to update their online Terms of Use & Privacy Policies, and to audit internal data handling procedures to prevent any violations.Continue reading