On December 28, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Memorandum (the “Memo”), effective immediately, that represents a clear change to previous guidance on the use of SMS Text Messaging or “texting” by healthcare providers to transmit patient information to other providers that are part of a patient’s care team.
Read MoreThe Cures Act is aimed at modernizing and personalizing healthcare by encouraging innovation and streamlining the process for discovery, development, and delivery of new treatments and technologies to those suffering from illness. Importantly, the legislation provides for significant funding to advance these goals, to the tune of $4.8 billion to the National Institutes of Health ("NIH"), $500 million to the Food & Drug Administration ("FDA"), and $1 billion in grants to states for opioid abuse prevention and treatment. This article will provide an overview of key components of the Cures Act and highlight implications for the future of healthcare.
Read MoreOn January 2, 2018, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) issued a Final Rule, amending 42 C.F.R Part 2 (“Part 2”), creating new changes to the federal rules governing confidentiality and disclosures of patient substance use disorder (“SUD”) records for the first time since 1987. Part 2 protects the confidentiality of SUD records, which are subset of protected health information (PHI). This means that these records are subject to HIPAA, but are also protected by Part 2, which contains additional (and more stringent) federal protections. These overlapping standards can make the storage and disclosure of patient records administratively burdensome for healthcare providers, patients and their families. It is also a challenge for technology companies that store, analyze, and transmit patient records on behalf of providers and patients.
Read MoreThis is the latest Nixon Law Group summary in our series on the new Virginia assisted living regulations, which go into effect on February 1, 2018. In this summary, we continue to focus on key changes to the regulations related to staffing.
Read MoreAs of December 22, 2017, the District of Columbia’s first telemedicine regulations take effect. Healthcare providers and healthcare technology vendors interested in or currently engaged in the telemedicine industry in D.C. should be aware of these key provisions in the new regulations.
Read MoreThe revised Virginia assisted living regulations go into effect February 1, 2018. This is the latest summary in Nixon Law Group’s series highlighting key changes under the new regulations. This summary is the first of two that will focus on some of the new staffing requirements, including qualifications, training, and records.
Read MoreNLG continues its series of posts on certain key changes in the new Virginia assisted living regulations, scheduled to take effect February 1, 2018. In this installment, we review new requirements for the use of private duty personnel and volunteers. Keep reading THE LATEST from Nixon Law Group more information on the new ALF regulations and other healthcare happenings!
Read MoreIn this third installment of NLG posts summarizing the new Virginia assisted living regulations, we cover notable changes to requirements for Electronic Records and eSignatures, Incident Reporting, and Reports of Abuse, Neglect, or Exploitation. These regulations are scheduled to take effect February 1, 2018, so keep checking back for THE LATEST from Nixon Law Group!
Read MoreThis is the second NLG summary in our series on the revisions to Virginia’s Standards for Licensed Assisted Living Facilities, scheduled to take effect February 1, 2018. The new regulations include changes to the timing for submitting incident reports, a new section addressing electronic records and electronic signatures, substantial revisions to requirements for infection control programs, and changes to the required content of the Disclosure Statement and admission agreements. This summary focuses on changes to Infection Control regulations.
Read MoreFinal regulations that comprehensively revise Virginia’s Standards for Licensed Assisted Living Facilities are scheduled to take effect February 1, 2018. The new regulations include changes to the timing for submitting incident reports, a new section addressing electronic records and electronic signatures, substantial revisions to requirements for infection control programs, and changes to the required content of the Disclosure Statement and admission agreements. This is the first in a series of summaries on key changes under the new assisted living regulations, so stay tuned!
Read MoreHealthcare providers are highly sensitive to the risks introduced by recordings in the workplace—not the least of which are potential violations of federal and state laws regarding the privacy of their patients and residents. We have often advised our healthcare clients to enact restrictions on recordings that could introduce unnecessary risk, but a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision, recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, indicates that those same restrictions on recordings might, in and of themselves, introduce compliance risk. In its decision, the NLRB had to determine whether no-recording policies maintained by employer Whole Foods were overly broad by prohibiting all recordings by Whole Foods employees without prior management approval. The NLRB’s position seems clear: Policies reasonably read as prohibiting all employee workplace recordings violate the National Labor Relations Act.
Read MoreFive new safe harbors have been added to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) in the final rule, issued on December 17, 2016 by the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG). In addition, existing safe harbors have been revised to grant further protections to providers from criminal prosecution and civil damages. What these changes mean for providers: The trend in healthcare is to move from volume-based care to value-based care.
Read MoreIt just got easier to sue nursing homes. How do you protect your facility and your patients while still maintaining a profit?
This article is a high-level overview of the proposed changes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as the main points you as an Administrator need to know now.
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