October, 2012

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Osceola County Approves Ordinance to Regulate Pain Management Clinics

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. On October 8, 2012, the Osceola County, Florida, Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance that will regulate pain management clinics, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The ordinance will take effect on October 31, 2012, and will be in effect for 10 years.

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Almost 19% of Nurse Aides Charged with Abuse and Neglect, had Prior Criminal Records

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. A report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on October 5, 2012, found that nineteen percent (19%) of long-term care nurse aides who were found guilty of on-the-job abuse, neglect or property theft in 2010 had prior criminal records that would have showed up on a background check.

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Does Putting Doctors’ Notes Online Violate HIPAA Privacy Rights?

The Health Law Firm

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. According to the Orlando Sentinel, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that patients like to read their doctors’ notes. In the study, published in April of 2012, doctors put their notes online, and gave patients online access to the file. While some patients had privacy concerns, ninety-nine percent (99%) of them requested to keep access to the file after the study was over.

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The Lone Star State’s New Task Force to Take a Bite Out of Medicaid Dental Fraud

The Health Law Firm

George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law There’s a new task force riding into Texas. According to The Texas Tribune, the Texas Attorney General’s (AG) Office and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) have teamed up to increase investigations of fraud in the state’s Medicaid dental program for children.

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Optimizing Medical Waste Management: A Guide to Best Practices

Feeling overwhelmed by medical waste regulations? This comprehensive guide unravels the complexities of medical waste disposal, ensuring you stay compliant and prioritize safety. Inside you'll find: Clear categorization: Learn to precisely classify medical waste for proper handling and disposal. Labeling & Storage: Discover best practices for clear labeling and secure storage of medical waste.

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Two South Florida Doctors Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Medicare Fraud

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Two South Florida doctors, both former medical directors at the mental health care company American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), will spend 10 years in prison for their part in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme. A US district judge handed down the sentence on October 1, 2012.

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Problems with Obtaining Certification From the ABIM? Recommendations For Physicians and Prospective Employers

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Physicians who run into difficulty in obtaining certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) need to act to ensure that they properly exercise their rights to hearings and appeals. Because of the extremely serious repercussions adverse action by the ABIM might have on a physician's career and livelihood, it is critical to approach this from an educated perspective.

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More Trending

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Tiny Key West Pharmacy Blows Whistle on Medicaid Fraud

The Health Law Firm

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. On September 27, 2012, Public Citizen, a watchdog group, reported whistleblowers have initiated $6.6 billion in penalties against drug manufacturers in 2012. Most of these penalties are for fraudulently overcharging government programs. The report names a small Key West, Florida, pharmacy as one of the top whistleblowers in the country.

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Errors in Initial Calculations Cause Medicare to Revise Readmission Penalties

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Back in August of 2012, I wrote that lower Medicare reimbursement rates were coming to more than 2,000 hospitals around the country due to excessive readmission rates. To see that blog, click here. In October of 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it has discovered errors in its initial calculations.

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Patient Recruiter is Convicted of Medicare Fraud for Power Wheelchairs

The Health Law Firm

By Thu Pham, O.D., Law Clerk, The Health Law Firm On August 9, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, located in New Orleans, Louisianna, affirmed the conviction of a patient recruiter in Texas for Medicare Fraud committed after Hurricane Katrina. To read the court's decision, click here. The Recruiter's Charges. The patient recruiter was charged with conspiracy to defraud Medicare.

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Pharmacy in Meningitis Outbreak May Have Violated License

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. The compounding pharmacy behind the meningitis outbreak was allegedly not following the requirements of its state license, according to the Massachusetts Department of Health (DOH) in a released statement on October 10, 2012. To read the entire statement from the Massachusetts DOH, click here.

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HIPAA Compliance: Can Your Organization Avoid Costly Government Penalties and Fines?

Colington Consulting was established in 2013 and helps organizations achieve HIPAA compliance and ensures clients stay current with the latest enforcement trends. We provide a full range of HIPAA compliance services and consulting. What separates us from our competitors is our knowledge of HIPAA compliance regulations and their application to each of our client’s particular scenarios and requirements.

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Walgreens Fights the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Immediate Suspension Order

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. There’s a firefight brewing between Walgreens and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). On October 10, 2012, Walgreens filed a petition asking a federal judge to lift the Immediate Suspension Order (ISO) that bans its distribution center in Jupiter, Florida, from shipping controlled substances to its stores in Florida and on the East Coast.

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Miami Couple Arrested for Practicing Medicine Without A License

The Health Law Firm

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D., and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. By now, you have heard stories of fake doctors and dentists in South Florida working on patients and causing severe injuries. Usually, these are solo efforts. However, according to CBS Miami, a couple was arrested back in August of 2011, for practicing medicine without a license.

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Filling Fake Prescriptions for Painkillers Lands Orlando Pharmacist in Handcuffs

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Another pharmacist was led away in handcuffs during a September 25, 2012, raid on an Orlando-area pharmacy, according to a number of sources. The pharmacist is accused of filling prescriptions for oxycodone, even though he allegedly knew the prescriptions were not legitimate.

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The Collateral Effects of Voluntary Relinquishment with Investigation Pending or other Discipline on Your Massage Therapy License

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Many massage therapists are unaware of the drastic long-term effects that discipline on their massage therapist license could have. This includes submitting a voluntary relinquishment of the massage therapist's license while there is an investigation pending or while there are charges pending.

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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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Accountable Care Organizations: Exemptions From and Antitrust Law and Other Healthcare Laws Offer Many Advantages

The Health Law Firm

By: Lance O. Leider, J.D. and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. The recently enacted Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) has created a new form of healthcare delivery system, the Accountable Care Organization (ACO). The purpose of the ACO is to encourage providers to reduce healthcare costs by grouping together and assuming responsibility for the care of a group of beneficiaries.

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Tennessee Ambulance Company Settles Lawsuit Over A $2 Million Bill

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law and Dr. Thu Pham, O.D., Law Clerk, The Health Law Firm Attorney. A Tennessee ambulance company and the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced a settlement in a case over a post payment audit for more than two million dollars in May 2012.

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Medicare and Medicaid Audits of Psychologists and Other Mental Health Professionals - Part 2

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Over the past year I have observed an increasing number of Medicare and Medicaid audits being initiated against psychologists and other mental health professionals. I have recently seen a number of audits initiated against psychologists and mental health professionals who treat assisted living facility (ALF) and skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents.

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New England Compounding Center Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of All Products Due to Meningitis Outbreak; Closes Manufacturing Center

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. At least 105 people in nine states, including Florida, have contracted meningitis. The outbreak is allegedly due to contaminated epidural spinal injections of methylprednisolone linked to New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Massachusetts.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About FACIS, but Didn’t Know to Ask

Speaker: Amy Anderson

FACIS® helps organizations mitigate patient and organizational risk. Maintaining compliance and safeguarding against fraud and abuse in today’s changing healthcare landscape can be challenging. Most healthcare organizations screen and monitor providers against the OIG but that’s only ONE of FACIS®’ primary sources. FACIS® pulls data for every taxonomy from the lowest level employee to the highest level licensed professional.

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Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) Receive Approval to Conduct Medical Review of E&M Services

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. In September 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made the decision to allow Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) to begin reviewing the billing codes for office visits for healthcare providers. Those at issue are the codes referred to as evaluation and management (E&M) codes.

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Disclosure of Private Employee Information by Employers

The Health Law Firm

By Lance O. Leider, J.D. Personnel files contain many different kinds of potentially harmful information. Not only is there a tremendous amount of personal information that could be misused, but also information that could be harmful to future employment prospects and potential license discipline. Fortunately, healthcare providers in Florida have a strong right to privacy in the information contained in their personnel records.

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New Popular Drug Called “Smiles” on the List of Florida’s Outlawed Synthetic Drugs - No Local Zombie Attacks, So Far!

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. In previous blogs we’ve mentioned that Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 1175 on March 23, 2012. This bill outlawed more than 90 new forms of synthetic drugs and included bath salts, among others. It modifies Section 893.03(1)(c) , Florida Statutes, by expanding the list of banned hallucinogenic substances in Schedule I of the Florida Comprehensive Abuse Prevention and Control Act.

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Government Proposes New System for Patients to Report Medical Mistakes

The Health Law Firm

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. According to the New York Times, the government wants to implement a new system that would allow patients to report medical mistakes and unsafe practices by health care providers to a central reporting organization. This includes doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, and all other professionals or entities that provide medical treatment.

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Ensure Continuous Patient Care: How to Avoid Disruptions Due to Ransomware

The industry has seen an increasing pace of ransomware, zero-day, and remote-code execution attacks. Learn how to defend against these against these attacks in this eBook.

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Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Blackstone Medical, Inc., Dismissed

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. A whistleblower lawsuit against Blackstone Medical, Inc., alleging Medicare fraud against Parrish Medical Center, was dismissed by a US District Judge in Tampa, Florida, on August 15, 2012. According to Orthopedics This Week, the case was unsealed on August 8, 2012, but dismissed without prejudice, all pending motions were denied as moot, and the clerk was directed to close the case, just one week aft

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Feds Tap the Brakes on Power Wheelchair Medicare Fraud = New Program Requires Advance Approval

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. On September 19, 2012, power wheelchair suppliers voiced their concerns over a new government program called the Power Mobility Devices (PMDs) Demonstration at a Senate Special Committee on Aging. Durable Medical Equipment Suppliers (DMES) protested the program because it requires the permission of a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) prior to the delivery of a power wheelchair to the consumer.

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Medicare and Medicaid Audits of Psychologists and Other Mental Health Professionals - Part 1

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. Over the past year I have observed an increasing number of Medicare and Medicaid audits being initiated against psychologists and other mental health professionals. I have recently seen a number of audits initiated against psychologists and mental health professionals who treat assisted living facility (ALF) and skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents.

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Overcoming License Suspension and Revocation Pending Appeal

The Health Law Firm

By Lance O. Leider, J.D. If you are a doctor, nurse, dentist, psychologist, pharmacist, massage therapist or other licensed health professional whose license has been recently revoked or suspended, there may still be hope. Ordinarily, you must immediately stop practicing or you risk being prosecuted for unlicensed practice, a felony. Although this blog deals with Florida law, similar relief may be available in other states, too.

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Generative AI for Contracts Is Here: New Tools to Accelerate Drafting and Editing

The emergence of generative AI is reshaping the landscape of contract management, enabling businesses to generate and negotiate legal agreements with greater ease and speed. In this on-demand webinar, Hal Marcus, VP of Product Marketing at Evisort discusses how Evisort's generative AI transforms contract creation and negotiation, empowering legal teams to streamline processes while reducing risk.

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The Number of Massage Licenses Suspended in Florida Now Almost Doubled

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. The Florida Secretary of Health announced on September 27, 2012, that he has now signed 161 emergency suspension orders (ESOs) for massage therapists in Florida. The suspension orders are aimed at massage therapists who allegedly obtained their licenses to practice through a transcript-buying scandal at the Florida College of Natural Health.

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Remedies for Violation of HIPAA Privacy Rights and Medical Confidentiality - Part 2

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. I receive many questions and e-mails about possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) Privacy Regulations and Security Regulations, and breaches of confidentiality of medical records and medical information. More detailed information on HIPAA Privacy Regulations and Security Regulations, can be found at: [link].

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Department of Justice (DOJ) Joins Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Hospice of the Comforter

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. On September 6, 2012, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it will join in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging false Medicare billings against Hospice of the Comforter Inc., (HOTCI). The hospice is located in Altamonte Springs, a suburb of the Orlando area, and provides hospice services to local patients.