Health Law

Legal eagles on the Beagle

Posted on November 24, 2008
A survival-of-the-fittest-themed Blawg Review is up at LawyerCasting (insert Darwin/lawyer joke here) and host Joshua Fruchter, on the masthead, looks like he's winking at me (just as Sarah Palin did that night she was debating the man formerly known as...

Medicare managed care, high costs, and the blame game

Posted on November 23, 2008
Robert Pear's piece in Sunday's NY Times is about the bajillionth article or MedPAC report recounting the fact that Medicare Advantage and Medicare fee-for-service plans cost the federales more than traditional Medicare -- 12% more and 17% more, respectively --...

Patient Safety Organization regulations finally finalized

Posted on November 21, 2008
PSO regulations under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 have finally wended their way through interminable process and have made it to publication as final regulations in today's Federal Register, effective January 19, 2009.The introductory commentary on...

MGH prepares for its next Joint Commission survey

Posted on November 18, 2008
The fact that a hospital has a Joint Commission survey due within the next year or so is not ordinarily newsworthy. However, the Boston Globe spilled some ink today on the Massachusetts General Hospital's upcoming survey and the General's preparations...

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Grand Rounds coming to a billboard near you

Posted on November 18, 2008
Dr. Deb has cued up the iPod playlist edition of Grand Rounds. No DRM issues to be concerned with . . . put on your headphones and enjoy. David HarlowThe Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

CMS imaging efficiency measures released for public comment

Posted on November 17, 2008
The latest comment period for imaging appropriateness measures is underway. CMS announced last week that through The Lewin Group and its subcontractors, the National Imaging Associates, Inc., (NIA) and Dobson | DaVanzo & Associates, LLC, it is developing a preliminary...

Health Wonk Review is up

Posted on November 14, 2008
The post-election edition of Health Wonk Review is up at Colorado Health Insurance Insider.David HarlowThe Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

Grand Rounds is up at Musings of a Distractible Mind

Posted on November 11, 2008
. . . wherein Dr. Rob offers some llama-inflected job advice for an anonymous correspondent (rhymes with "no llama").David HarlowThe Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

DNV senior execs speak with David Harlow about new hospital accreditation authority

Posted on November 06, 2008
Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with several members of the executive leadership team from DNV Healthcare, the "new kid on the block" for hospital accreditation. DNV was recently granted deeming authority by CMS -- the first time the...

Early returns point to Nurse Ratched's Place . . .

Posted on November 04, 2008
. . . for a presidential-history-filled edition of Grand Rounds. Read, learn and enjoy.David Harlow The Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

New Massachusetts identity theft regs overlap with HIPAA, FTC Red Flag rule

Posted on November 03, 2008
Massachusetts identity theft regs take effect January 1, 2009. Any business that does no more than keep a copy of a personal check from a client or customer on file is subject to these new rules, which require implementation of...

Don Berwick, CEO of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, speaks with David Harlow about the 5 Million Lives Campaign and more

Posted on November 02, 2008
Don Berwick, CEO of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, spoke with HealthBlawg last week, as IHI comes close to wrapping up its 5 Million Lives Campaign.The audio file of my interview with Don Berwick (about 20 minutes long) is available...

Don Berwick, CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, speaks with David Harlow about the 5 Million Lives Campaign and more

Posted on November 02, 2008
Don Berwick, CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, spoke with HealthBlawg last week, as IHI comes close to wrapping up its 5 Million Lives Campaign.The audio file of my interview with Don Berwick (about 20 minutes long) is available...

2009 MPFS final regulations

Posted on October 31, 2008
The 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule regulation was released in final form yesterday (on display), and will be published in the Federal Register on November 19. It is chock full of payment and policy changes, detailed in three CMS fact...

Health Wonk Review: Samhain edition

Posted on October 30, 2008
All Hallow's Eve (celebrated around these parts tomorrow night) incorporates traditions tied to the earlier Celtic holiday of Samhain, which marks the beginning of winter -- as the great (swing) state (or should I say Commonwealth) of Pennsylvania knows only...

Ascension Health buys $100m in Caritas Christi bonds: Phase I of an acquisition?

Posted on October 28, 2008
A year or so ago, Ascension Health wanted nothing to do with Caritas Christi. The national Catholic health care system considered buying the Boston-based Catholic health system after it put itself on the block, but backed away given the toxic...

Health 2.0 coast to coast

Posted on October 28, 2008
Last week saw the most recent Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco. While I did not make it out to the left coast for the event, I got a tiny taste in advance, at the second Health 2.0 Northeast confab...

A really wonky Health Wonk Review is up at Managed Care Matters; spooky edition right here in a fortnight

Posted on October 16, 2008
Check out the latest election season edition of Health Wonk Review at Joe Paduda's Managed Care Matters. The upcoming Halloween edition will be right here at HealthBlawg.David Harlow The Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

David Harlow quoted in Radiology Today on HIPAA compliance reviews

Posted on October 10, 2008
I spoke last month with Radiology Today on the question of HIPAA compliance, in light of increased, or at least more public, enforcement. HIPAA security compliance audits are underway, and providers need to be aware of what to expect. The...

David Harlow quoted in Health Plan Insider piece on physician shortage in Massachusetts

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Massachusetts Medical Society released a report this week -- the Physician Workforce Study -- highlighting physician shortages including -- but also well beyond -- primary care. This issue was picked up by Les Masterson in the current issue of...

DNV: New kid on the (deeming) bløck

Posted on October 07, 2008
The organization formerly known as JCAHO finally has a little competition, after a 30-year-plus lock on the deeming business. While the Joint Commission has changed with the times (looking more at process, not just at outcomes), its hospital survey process...

Swapping arrangements, other issues, addressed in OIG supplemental compliance program guidance for nursing facilities

Posted on October 02, 2008
A recurring issue I see in my practice, regarding nursing facility contracts with suppliers and providers (e.g. clinical labs and ambulance services), has been addressed yet again by the OIG. This time, it's in the OIG Supplemental Compliance Program Guidance...

Health Wonk Review: The $700 Billion Edition

Posted on October 02, 2008
Jason Shafrin, The Health Care Economist, hosts this week's edition of Health Wonk Review, and wonders who in the health care arena could use a $700b shot in the arm.David Harlow The Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consulting

Doug Brown, UMass Memorial Health Care's General Counsel, speaks with David Harlow about transparency and systems improvement

Posted on October 01, 2008
I spoke with Douglas Brown, General Counsel of UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, Massachusetts earlier this week about his institution's experience with reinventing its cardiac surgery program. The Medical Center voluntarily suspended operations of the program in 2005 after...

DRA advanced imaging cuts examined by GAO; MIPPA accreditation rules welcomed by industry

Posted on September 29, 2008
Advanced diagnostic imaging reimbursement (i.e., payment for MRI, CT and nuc med) has taken a beating under the DRA (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005), and last week's GAO report looking at the impact of the legislation on this slice of...

EHR adoption incentives: $700 million and counting

Posted on September 26, 2008
Well, it isn't $700 billion but, then again, it doesn't involve getting down on bended knee before Nancy Pelosi.CCHIT is taking an ongoing inventory of public and private incentives nationwide intended to promote adoption of CCHIT-certified EHRs. Thus far, CCHIT...

Ambulance diversions to be banned in MA

Posted on September 23, 2008
As reported in the Boston Globe earlier this month, The state has ordered Massachusetts hospitals to stop turning away ambulances when their emergency rooms are overcrowded, a decades-old practice that can delay treatment and has upset patients denied care at...

Blawg Review says register to vote

Posted on September 22, 2008
Well, not exactly, but stick with me here. Aussie law prof Peter Black is hosting this week's Blawg Review at Freedom to Differ in honor of One Web Day. This year's theme for One Web Day is online participation in...

The doctor will see you . . . maybe before next spring

Posted on September 22, 2008
From today's Boston Globe: The dearth of PCPs as newly insured folks in MA have tried to find them has been frustrating to many. The new Massachusetts law alluded to in the Globe article takes some baby steps towards ameliorating...

David Harlow quoted in article on Medicare and telehealth

Posted on September 19, 2008
CMS is slowly but surely adding some codes for payment of limited telehealth services -- this year, it's certain consultations to follow up on patients the remote physician has seen in person. I spoke with the editor of Physician Compensation...

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