The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York recently announced that Morris Barnard, a Great Neck gastroenterologist, was sentenced to 30 months in jail for billing Medicare for procedures he never performed. Between 2015 and 2020, Barnard submitted over $3 million in false claims for colonoscopy and gastroenterological procedures for disabled patients living…

I don’t know how to say it any more clearly.  Somehow, medical and dental practices continue to get roped into responding to negative patient reviews on Yelp, Google, or elsewhere online, and posting any identifying information about a patient is a HIPAA violation. It’s protected health information (PHI), even if the patient posted something first.

On January 11, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra formally renewed the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days. The PHE, which originally went into effect on January 31, 2020, provides important flexibilities for healthcare providers and Medicare beneficiaries and waives key reporting requirements. Some important telehealth…

On December 20, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection announced the issuance of Health Products Compliance Guidance. The revised Guidance updates the FTC’s 1998 guide, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide For Industry, and is a must read for everyone involved in marketing, labeling, and creating and evaluating substantiation for dietary supplements and…

On December 23, the U.S. Congress passed the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,” the omnibus budget bill for fiscal year 2023 (HR 2617). The bill includes several provisions relating to Medicare coverage of telehealth, including extending some of the flexibilities that became effective at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The budget bill for…

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…

On December 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Bulletin entitled ”Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates“ that addresses the responsibilities of HIPAA covered entities and business associates (“regulated entities”) when using online tracking technologies. Regulated entities need…

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…