Health Law Scan

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a far-reaching interim final rule (IFR) to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on March 30. The IFR represents a comprehensive set of policy changes designed to shift the provision of Medicare services from face-to-face care to remote care through telehealth, in order to mitigate the risks of exposure to COVID-19 for patients and healthcare providers. Above all else, the IFR prioritizes physically distancing patients from their care teams and other patients.

The Morgan Lewis healthcare team continues to monitor the developments surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We are acutely aware of what the healthcare service provider community is currently facing and are here to help.

We invite you to join us on Thursday, February 27 for our next installment of the Fast Break series.

In an Up & Atom blog post, our lawyers address two recent NRC Information Notices on medical events involving overexposure to strontium-82/rubidium-82 generator elution and the administration

While US healthcare institutions are poised to respond to any outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), how should they prepare as employers for the questions and compliance challenges that arise in a public health crisis?

The Morgan Lewis Labor & Employment NOW video series provides analysis of the latest legal developments and compliance insight for employers. In this edition, Doug Hart discusses staffing-related trends that arise in collective bargaining in the healthcare industry. Doug offers guidance to hospitals and healthcare facilities to better understand unions’ bargaining positions and determine appropriate employer responses, focusing on in-house registries, float pools, ratios, contract language, and wage and hour concerns.

Healthcare providers dedicate approximately $39 billion per year to administrative activities related to regulatory compliance, according to research conducted by the American Hospital Association, which found the pace of regulatory changes “has begun to exceed many providers’ ability to absorb them.” To that end, understanding the federal rulemaking process and knowing when and how to get involved is critical for the healthcare industry.

Coming on the heels of the FCC’s recently proposed $100 million Connected Care Program to fund telehealth-based connections between healthcare providers and patients, and continuing its recognition of the critical role telehealth plays in the healthcare industry, the FCC recently voted to adopt an extensive order overhauling the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program.

The FCC recently issued draft rules for a pilot funding program to enhance broadband service for connected care telehealth purposes, reflecting the agency’s recognition of the increasingly critical role that telehealth plays in the healthcare industry.

Members of the Morgan Lewis healthcare team joined more than 1,200 professionals in attendance at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Health Lawyers Association recently held in Boston.