Recent Articles

May 2013

• Good Habits for PR Crisis Management
• HIPAA and Cloud Computing
• Ask the Expert:
  • Defining Medically Necessary Procedures
  • M&A Due Diligence and Immigration Paperwork
    

April 2013

• Protecting Patient Privacy: We Make it Harder Than It Needs to Be 
  • Tool: A Pocket Guide to PHI Disclosures to Family, Friends, and Others Involved in a Patient’s Care/Payment
   
• Ask the Expert: Compliance Budgets
• HIPAA Compliance Tool: Business Associate Contract Checklist

Article Archive 

Anti-Kickback, Stark, and Related Regulations

• The Risks of Compensating Physicians for On-Call ED Coverage (September 2011)
• The Stark Law Essentials: A Primer on Self-Referral  (May 2012)

Antitrust Issues

• ACO Markets and Anticompetitive Power (January 2012)
• Supreme Court Hears Georgia Antitrust Case  (January 2013)

CDM, Charge Capture and Coding 

• OIG Audits: Error Rate Is 76% for OPPS Drug Billing (July 2012)
• Tool: Checklist - Preventing Outpatient Drug Billing Overpayments (July 2012)
• Tool: Policy and Procedure - E&M Coding for Physician Claims (June 2012)

Conflict of Interest

• A History of  Financial Conflict of Interest in Medical Research (October 2012)
• New Financial Conflict of Interest Rules for NIH Medical Research (October 2012)

Consumer Laws

• Ensuring Compliance with Consumer Credit Laws  (May 2012)

Employment Relations/Human Resources

• Filtering Out Smokers (February 2012)

Healthcare Compliance Programs

• Corporate Compliance Programs: A Primer  (April 2012)
• Tool: Checklist for Good Policy Documents (March 2011)

Healthcare Legal

• Antitrust Law in the Era of Health Reform (October 2011)
• Breach Notification for Unsecured Protected Health Information
• Health Reform Tightens Overpayment Rules (May 2010)
• Health Reform: Job Security for Compliance Officers (May 2010)
• Hospitals Face Stealth Audits of Community Benefit Activities (March 2013)
• The Rise of the RCO Doctrine in Health Care (June 2012)
• Tool: Checklist for Community Benefit Activities (March 2013)
• Top 10 Health Law Issues (April 2010) 

Healthcare Reform

• ACO Rule Provides Uncertainty and Opportunity(May 2011)
• ACOs and Bundled Payment: More Uncertainty or More Opportunity?(September 2011)
• Complex and Technical Language in PACA (May 2010)
• Rhetoric and the Health Reform Appeal (March 2012)
• SCOTUS Has Spoken: What Do We Do Now? (September 2012)
• What If the Supreme Court Throws Out the ACA? (April 2012)

 IRS Compliance

• New Requirements for Tax-Exempt Hospitals (February 2011)

Medicaid

• State Positions on Expansion of Medicaid (September 2012)

  Medicare Compliance, OIG  

• CMS Revises, Confirms MD Supervision Rules (January 2011)
• Do Medicare Patients Really Need Another Beneficiary Notice? (February 2011)
• Five Criteria to Understanding Meaningful Use Compliance (July 2011)
• Fraud Enforcement: It's the Best of Times and the Worst of Times (February 2011)
• Putting Observation Status on Observation (March 2011)
• Q&A: Massachusetts General Hospital on FCA
• RAC Audit and RAC Appeal Advice (February 2010)
• RAC Challenges and Appeals Team (April 2010)
• RAC Coding Compliance Challenges (April 2010)
• Tool: Sample RAC Appeal Letter(Feb 2011)
• Utilizing RACs for Process Improvement (May 2010)

Physician Issues

• Physician Compensation: Don't Run Afoul of the Feds (September 2012)
• Promoting Physician Services Under Stark/Anti-Kickback (March 2013)

Privacy, HITECH, and HIPAA

• Data Breaches on the Rise (January 2011)
• Do You Know Where Your Data Is? Two Tactics to Prevent Breaches (January 2011)
• Helpful Resources for Planning Your 2013 Compliance Agenda (November 2012)
• HITECH Security Assessments (January 2011)
• Meaningful Use May Increase Risk of Privacy Breaches (November 2011)  
• Tool: Meaningful Use Risk Assessment: PHI Security Questions for Providers (November 2011)
• OIG Report Foreshadows Scrutiny of IT Policies (July 2011)
• PHI Disclosures for TPO Purposes: Burdensome or Not?  (June 2011)
• Preventing Data Breaches via Business Associate Arrangements (November 2011)
• Tool: Data Security Questions to Ask Potential Business Associates (November 2011)
• Privacy Breaches and State Law (November 2012)
• Securing Employee Smartphones and Tablets Against Data Breaches (October 2011)
• Social Media's "Message" to Compliance Officers (April 2011)
• Tool: A Checklist for Managing Compliance Risks Related to Social Media (April 2011)
• Straddling the Line Between Patient Privacy and Law Enforcement Requests (February 2013)
  • Tool: Law Enforcement Request for Information Records Without Patient Authorization (February 2013)
   

Productivity and Process Improvement

• Automated Time Deductions for Meal Breaks Can Be Very Costly (June 2011)
• Getting OIG's Blessing for a Physician Alignment Strategy (May 2011)

RACs, MACs, and Other Anti-Fraud Efforts 

• How to Minimize RAC Recoupment (February 2010)
• Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractors: Coming Soon (March 2011)
• RAC Appeal Hurdles (January 2011)
• Redetermination and Reconsideration Levels of RAC Appeal (February 2010)
• Tool: Sample RAC Appeal Letter(February 2011)
• Tips for Systemizing Your RAC Response (July 2011)
• Tool: RAC Steering Committee Meeting Minute Template (July 2011)
• Tool: RAC Timeframes and Deadlines (January 2011)
• Tool: A Flowchart for Determining Whether to Appeal an Overpayment Claim (January 2011)

 Red Flag Rule

• Amendment Exempts Providers from Red Flag Rule (January 2011)
• Red Flags Rule Clarified; Meaning of “Creditor” Narrowed (January 2013)

Publication Date: Monday, January 28, 2013