Posts in Regulations
Can Nurse Practitioners Run Their Own Practices in Virginia?
Can Nurse Practitioners Run Their Own Practices in Virginia?

In April 2018, Governor Ralph Northam signed House Bill 793, which will allow Virginia nurse practitioners (NPs) with the equivalent of five years of full-time practice with a collaborating physician to be certified to practice independently.  What does this mean for NPs in Virginia? Practically speaking, if a nurse practitioner meets the qualifications and makes the appropriate filings with the Board of Nursing, he or she can open up an independent practice to provide care in their community. This change aligns Virginia law with more than twenty other states across the country in adopting full practice authority and is expected to expand access to affordable primary care to thousands of Virginians. 

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Medical Practice, RegulationsKatherine Bain, Esq.Nurse Practitioner, full practice authority, independent practice, nurses, collaborating physician, patient care team
What do I need to know about GDPR?
What do I need to know about GDPR?

Beginning on May 25, 2018, HIPAA won’t be the only healthcare data security standard with which U.S. companies have to comply. Medical practices, digital healthcare companies, and vendors (e.g., electronic health records companies, medical billing companies, and cloud services companies) that do business in the healthcare sector and collect data from European citizens will be required to comply with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”). A recent Reuters article called the implementation of these regulations “the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of the internet.”

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HIPAA, RegulationsKatherine Bain, Esq.HIPAA, GDPR
To Text or Not to Text: Clarification for Healthcare Providers on Texting Patient Information
To Text or Not to Text: Clarification for Healthcare Providers on Texting Patient Information

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.

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Health IT, HIPAA, Medical Practice, RegulationsKaitlyn O'ConnorPatient Health Information, Patient Information, Texting patient information, Texting, CMS
The 21st Century Cures Act and the Future of Healthcare
The 21st Century Cures Act and the Future of Healthcare

The 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.

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FDA, Electronic Records, Health IT, Regulations, LegislationCarrie NixonCures Act, Future of Healthcare, Precision Medicine Initiative, 21st Century Cures Act, Cancer Moonshot, Patient Generated Health Data, FDA Regulations, Real World Evidence, National data sharing, interoperability
New Rule for Substance Abuse Records: Confidentiality and Disclosures
New Rule for Substance Abuse Records: Confidentiality and Disclosures

On 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.

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Electronic Records, HIPAA, RegulationsRebecca Gwiltsubstance abuse, PHI, 42 CFR Part 2, Part 2 Programs, mental health records, drug and alcohol, medical records, patient consent, SUD
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: STAFFING (Part 1 of 2)
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: STAFFING (Part 1 of 2)

The 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.

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Post Acute, RegulationsCait Riccobonoassisted living, post-acute, staffing, regulations, ALF, Virginia, personnel
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Private Duty Personnel and Volunteers
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Private Duty Personnel and Volunteers

NLG 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!

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Assisted Living, RegulationsCait Riccobonoassisted living, post-acute, regulations, ALF, Virginia, personnel, volunteers
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Records & Reports
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Records & Reports

In 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! 

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Assisted Living, Post Acute, Regulations, Reporting, Electronic RecordsCait Riccobonoassisted living, Virginia, regulations
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Infection Control
What You Need to Know About the Revised Virginia Assisted Living Regulations: Infection Control

This 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. 

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Post Acute, Regulations, Assisted Living, Infection ControlCait RiccobonoVirginia, assisted living, regulations
CLIENT ALERT: Revisions to Virginia Assisted Living Regulations
CLIENT ALERT: Revisions to Virginia Assisted Living Regulations

Final 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! 

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Assisted Living, RegulationsCait Riccobonoassisted living, regulations, compliance, policies and procedures
Stuck in the Middle Again: Protected Workplace Recordings Must Coexist with Patient Privacy
Stuck in the Middle Again: Protected Workplace Recordings Must Coexist with Patient Privacy

Healthcare 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.

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HIPAA, Employment, Post Acute, RegulationsCait Riccobonophoto, video, policy, policies and procedures, taking pictures, record/recordings
Five New Safe Harbors to the Fraud and Abuse Statutes: What do they mean for healthcare providers?
Five New Safe Harbors to the Fraud and Abuse Statutes: What do they mean for healthcare providers?

Five 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. 

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Medical Practice, RegulationsRebecca Gwiltfraud and abuse, safe harbor, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback, AKS, CMP, Civil monetary penalties, OIG
Nursing Homes and the CMS Rule Barring Arbitration Clauses
Nursing Homes and the CMS Rule Barring Arbitration Clauses

It 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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Post Acute, RegulationsCarrie Nixonarbitration, nursing home, skilled nursing, nursing home contracts, arbitration agreement, arbitration clause, long term care, assisted living