Hospitals

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a favorable Advisory Opinion on a hospital arrangement in which the hospital was using its employed nurse practitioners to perform services that were traditionally performed by patients’ attending physicians. Specifically, if the attending physician elected to participate in the hospital’s…

New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed legislation designed to prevent New York hospitals and medical providers from employing certain collection practices against patients with medical debt. This protection became effective immediately upon the Governor’s signing.

The legislation prohibits providers and hospitals from previous collection practices of garnishing up to 10% of a patient’s paycheck…

Virtual primary care company HealthTap recently announced that it has partnered with Samsung to provide telehealth services through Samsung smart TVs. Users will be able to connect to the HealthTap platform and schedule a doctor visit using a built-in camera on the television.

Consumers who pay $15 per month for HealthTap’s platform will be able…

As part of its 2023 state budget, New York State has allocated $1.2 billion for the payment of bonuses to certain frontline healthcare workers. This bonus program is intended to reward healthcare workers for their services during the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote employee retention and recruitment in the healthcare sector. Qualified employers who wish…

Rivkin Radler’s Michael Sirignano authored a recent article for the New York Law Journal entitled “The Anti-Kickback Statute’s Role in Health Insurance Fraud Cases.” The article discussed recent lawsuits against physicians, laboratories, hospitals, and a large pharmaceutical company, McKesson Corporation, under the False Claims Act and federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

In a recent Advisory Opinion, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that an arrangement involving certain physicians who have an ownership interest in a medical device company that manufactures products that may be ordered by the physician owners (the “Company”) was not considered a suspect physician-owned…

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently intervened in an action filed in Texas against two laboratory CEOs, one hospital CEO, and numerous other executives, employees, and recruiters, seeking civil penalties and treble damages for violations of the False Claims Act. The DOJ’s complaint, which was unsealed on April 4, also alleges that the fraudulent…