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Top Seven Tips to Prepare for a Healthcare Security Compliance Audit
By building compliance processes into your internal structure, audits can be completed faster and can bring to light information that is beneficial for both your customers and employees. Here are seven tips to prepare for a healthcare compliance audit.
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.
PAUBOX GUEST BLOG: The GDPR and Pseudonymization vs. Encryption
On May 25, 2018, European law officially enforced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR was created to protect the personal data of EU citizens. This article examines two GDPR-compliant encryption methods in this article: standard encryption and pseudonymization.
Medicare Data Sharing under the CMS Qualified Entity Program
The Qualified Entity Program allows CMS-certified Qualified Entities to obtain and use Medicare claims data to conduct non-public analyses and provide or sell combined data/analyses, consistent with certain program requirements.
Do I really need a Healthcare Lawyer?
Healthcare has now surpassed nuclear power and financial services as the most highly regulated industry in the U.S. - and for good reason. The health, safety, and privacy of individual patients and the public at large is at stake.
For better or for worse, there exists a complex web of local, state, and federal laws and regulations that govern the businesses of healthcare providers and healthcare companies - from patient safety and privacy protections, to corporate transactions and contractual relationships. Navigating this complicated landscape requires a deep understanding of the risks and opportunities inherent in the healthcare industry—namely, it requires an experienced healthcare attorney.
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.”
Kaitlyn O’Connor, Esq. joins Nixon Law Group, a leading boutique healthcare law firm
Nixon Law Group, a Virginia-based boutique law firm representing clients in the healthcare industry exclusively, announced today that Kaitlyn O’Connor, Esq. has joined the firm as Counsel. Kaitlyn will be based in Nixon Law Group’s Richmond office, but will divide her time between Richmond and Williamsburg.
Get to Know the New D.C. Telemedicine Regulations
As 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.
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.
How to get paid for Remote Patient Monitoring with CPT Code 99091
Two Final Rules issued by CMS in November 2017 opened up entirely new avenues for reimbursement of Remote Patient Monitoring services in 2018, creating the potential for better patient outcomes and a boost to a medical practice's bottom line.
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!
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!
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.
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.
Nixon Law Group, a leading boutique healthcare law firm, welcomes Caitlin Riccobono, Esq.
VIRGINIA, June 5, 2017/Nixon Law Group, PLLC/- Nixon Law Group, a Virginia-based boutique law firm representing clients in the healthcare industry exclusively, begins Summer 2017 by welcoming Caitlin Riccobono, Esq. as Counsel with the firm. Cait will be based in Nixon Law Group’s Richmond office. Prior to beginning her career as a healthcare lawyer, Cait spent five years in skilled nursing/long-term care facilities as a social worker.