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ONC Interoperability Final Rule: Impact on Health Care Providers
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) published a final rule on May 1, 2020 implementing the interoperability and information blocking requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act. The ONC Final Rule will significantly impact healthcare providers by prohibiting “information blocking” and by requiring health care providers to provide third party smartphone applications with access to their patients’ health information upon the patients’ request.
Are Your Business Associate Agreements Up-To-Date?
Health care providers and their Business Associates have faced constantly shifting regulatory requirements and operational changes over the last few months. These developments include COVID-19 related enforcement by the federal government, increased use of telehealth, and the publication of new federal regulations related to interoperability. Given these developments, it is an opportune time for providers to revisit and amend their Business Associate Agreements (BAA).
PA Superior Court Decision in Ungurian Reflects Ongoing Judicial Assault on Privilege in Medical Malpractice Litigation
The Pennsylvania Superior Court decision in Ungurian v. Beyzman is the latest in the trend of appellate cases systematically stripping away privilege protection for robust and candid, self-critical evaluation, and safety analysis by medical professionals and hospitals. This privilege protection, guaranteed by federal and state law, is essential to promoting patient safety and quality of care in our nation's hospitals.
COVID-19 Telehealth: What Providers Need to Know
Through the CARES Act and a series of Section 1135 Blanket Waivers and policy statements, the federal government has authorized expansive use of telehealth during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, creating an opportunity for the use of telehealth/telemedicine in providing healthcare services on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act allocates $200 million to help the healthcare industry develop greater telehealth capabilities, and directs HHS to both expand reimbursement under the Medicare program and take steps to relax regulatory barriers that have inhibited telehealth expansion. But, to take full advantage, providers need to stay on top of a number of issues that will enable them to provide services that are both legally compliant and reimbursable under federal, state, and/or commercial insurance programs.
Federal DEA Guidance Impacts Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Research
On August 12, the U.S. DEA published a series of decisions impacting both state and federal medical marijuana law and policy. In a white paper, Robin Locke Nagele and Elizabeth Hein take a detailed look at DEA's Policy Statement, the consequences for medical marijuana research in Pennsylvania, and the interaction with federal laws.