The United States Department of Health and Human Services has new actions planned to address the opioid crisis. The buprenorphine rule has been finalized, which allows physicians who have waivers to prescribe buprenorphine products (e.g., Suboxone) for up to 100 patients for 1 year or more to obtain a waiver…
New rules published on June 30th, 2016 in the Federal Register could dramatically change the regulatory enforcement landscape for healthcare providers, with fraud penalties nearly doubling under the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act. The False Claims Act (which in pertinent part imposes penalties on healthcare providers for submitting…
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that recognizes implied certification as a viable theory under which to pursue False Claims Act cases against healthcare providers. Implied certification can impose liability if a contractor has engaged in a lie by omission, for instance, failing to disclose its noncompliance.…
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has begun issuing notices for Phase 2 HIPAA Audits applicable to covered entities and their business associates. In Phase 2, OCR will review the policies and procedures adopted and employed by covered entities and their business associates to satisfy standards and implementation specifications…
On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, Clinton Mikel, a Partner at The Health Law Partners and Chairman of the eHealth, Privacy and Security Interest Group of the American Bar Association Health Law Section, will be a guest speaker at Politico’s “Outside, In: Unhealthy Hacking: Medical Privacy in the Age of Cyber…
Adrienne Dresevic, Esq., of The Health Law Partners, PC, and Kathleen DeBruhl of DeBruhl Haynes, The Health Law Group, are pleased to announce the American Bar Association Health Law Section’s Physicians Legal Issues Conference on June 9-10, 2016, in Chicago, Illinois. This annual conference is attended by both attorneys and…
Please join The Health Law Partners, P.C., in congratulating Adrienne Dresevic (a Founding Shareholder), and Clinton Mikel (a Partner), for earning what has been described as the “Pulitzer Prize of Legal Writing”. The Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing, which is run in association with the Library of Congress and…
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has announced that it will begin the 2016 Phase 2 HIPAA Audit Program, the next phase of audits of covered entities and their business associates. In Phase 2, OCR will review the policies and procedures adopted and employed by covered entities and their…
“Physician Contracting Workshop,” presented by Robert S. Iwrey, Esq., Oakland County Medical Society, March 2, 2016, Bloomfield Hills, MI. For further information, please contact Robert S. Iwrey, Esq. at (248) 996-8510 or (212) 734-0128 or riwrey@thehlp.com.
In U.S. ex rel. Wall v. Circle C. Construction, Case #14-6150, 2016 WL 423750 (6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2016), the 6th Circuit Court held that damages in false certification cases should be based on the difference between the value of the items or services the government should have received and…