On November 15, 2016, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released the OIG Work Plan 2017. Totaling over 100 pages this year, you can download the OIG 2017 Work Plan here on our…
Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”) Compliance Program
An SNF Compliance Program is an essential part of any Skilled Nursing Facility operation! In my earlier Nursing Home Compliance Program blog post, I posed some questions to our Director…
Nursing Home Compliance Program – The Who, What, When, Why and How
Nursing Home Compliance Program – the term elicits a myriad of reactions from providers, ranging from indifference to anxiety. Regardless of your feelings, the requirement for a SNF compliance program…
Assisted Living Feasibility Study – Part Three
You’re thinking of doing an assisted living feasibility study – it means that you’re preparing to undertake a major project with significant consequences. On the one hand, congratulations and on…
Does your Hospital have a Pokemon Policy?
Many hospitals are dealing with the latest mobile device game craze, Pokemon Go, but not everyone is asking staff and visitors to refrain from playing on the hospital campus. Pokemon No…
Assisted Living Market Study – Part Two
Assisted Living Market Study questions often asked . . . for today’s post, I’d like to cover a couple of questions which were not addressed in my prior blog: What…
Ransomware and HIPAA
Ransomware and HIPAA: the Federal Government has recently issued two resource documents: the first discusses protecting your network from ransomware, the second, a Ransomware and HIPAA fact sheet. Both are…
New Overtime Rule – Impact on Costs for Healthcare Providers
The new overtime rule is effective December 1, 2016. The Department of Labor is instituting new overtime rules that are likely to have a substantial effect on health care providers…
2016 OIG Work Plan Nursing Homes Mid Year Update
The 2016 OIG Work Plan Nursing Homes has released the “Fiscal Year Work Plan, Mid-Year Update 2016” document, which provides an update to the 2016 OIG Work Plan, which was…
OIG 2016 Work Plan Update What’s New?
This OIG 2016 Work Plan Update mid-year summarizes new and ongoing reviews and activities that OIG plans to pursue with respect to HHS programs and operations during the current fiscal…
Healthcare False Claims Act Penalties May Double
The Department of Justice has just released a proposed rule that would include a doubling of the Healthcare False Claims Act penalties. How worried should healthcare providers be? The Healthcare…
HIPAA Breach: it’s your PHI, but you didn’t send the Email!
HIPAA Breach, your ePHI, but you didn’t send the email: you may be liable anyway! This HIPAA Breach question was forwarded to me recently: “Is this a HIPAA Breach on…
Assisted Living Market Study – What is it and why is it important?
We receive numerous inquiries for an assisted living market study. The majority come from individuals/organizations that are not familiar with what an assisted living market study exactly is, what it…
Healthcare Cyber Attacks! Is your Organization at Risk?
We’ve all heard of the recent healthcare cyber attacks on organizations like 21st Century Oncology Holdings and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Although these were two very different cyber attacks, nonetheless…
HIPAA Phase 2 Audits – Have you been notified yet?
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has just announced it is starting HIPAA Phase 2 Audits, this time focusing on business associates…
Healthcare Cyber Insurance – are you keeping up your end?
Healthcare Cyber Insurance is pretty much mandatory. Proliferation of medical information created, maintained and transmitted by and between healthcare providers and organizations of all types, is increasing. Healthcare Cyber Insurance…
EHR Patient Portal – Get the most out of yours!
For most practices implementing an EHR Patient Portal is a new experience. The Meaningful Use Attestation guidelines are putting more and more emphasis in utilizing an EHR Patient Portal in…
OIG 2016 Work Plan – EHR Technology
The OIG 2016 Work Plan, published a few weeks ago, announced reviews of incentive payments for adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR), and plans to conduct security audits of certified…
2016 OIG Work Plan, here’s another reason to pay attention
If you’ve read my recent post, 2016 OIG Work Plan-Nursing Homes, you know that the OIG has introduced a new project that seeks to examine the SNF prospective payment…
OIG 2016 Work Plan – Impact on Hospitals
The OIG 2016 Work Plan was released earlier last month, and hospitals again lead the pack in terms of OIG auditing projects. In fact, this year there are 25 OIG…