Decoding OCR Messages on HIPAA Fines

With big fines being announced right along with supposed lowering of HIPAA fines, what kind of take-away should healthcare providers be receiving from these seemingly contradictory trends? On the high fines side, OCR announced the following: Touchstone Medical Imaging (“Touchstone”) has agreed to pay $3,000,000 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. … Read more

EmCare data breach compromises 60,000 employee and patient files

Florida-based EmCare has announced that an estimated 60,000 files were compromised by a hack of several employee emails.  Phishing emails are the source of a large share of patient data breaches in reported HIPAA breaches. The breach reportedly included demographic and clinical data for patients, contractors, and employees.   Social security number and driver’s licenses were … Read more

Urgent care billing and EMR set up results in $2 million False Claim Act settlement.

BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that CareWell Urgent Care Centers of MA, P.C., CareWell Urgent Care of Rhode Island, P.C., and Urgent Care Centers of New England Inc. (CareWell), the owners and operators of urgent care centers located throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have agreed to pay $2 million to resolve … Read more

Louisiana Senate Takes First Steps to Outlawing New Freestanding EDs

On February 17, the Louisiana Senate voted overwhelmingly to ban most new freestanding EDs (FSEDs).  The move  targets FSEDs not associated with hospitals and comes out of concerns that the freestanding centers are driving rural hospitals out of business and endangering rural access to healthcare.  The bill now moves to the House for further debate. … Read more

Book Release Date Set

I am pleased to announce that the 4th Edition of the EMTALA Field Guide is currently going through final edit. We are now able to announce a release date for June 1, 2019. More information to follow.

When EMS Pioneers Pass On

You may have noticed it yourself – perhaps more so each year as you also get older – but when the pioneers and heroes that inspired your career pass on, it seems like a portion of the important history upon which you built your career and identity has also passed away.  When that hardcore pioneer … Read more

DHS issues hacking warning for Medtronic implantable devices and monitors

Legal Notice All information products included in http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov are provided “as is” for informational purposes only. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not provide any warranties of any kind regarding any information contained within. DHS does not endorse any commercial product or service, referenced in this product or otherwise. Further dissemination of this product is governed … Read more

News Headlines Can Trigger EMTALA Cases

While mandated reporting by hospitals is the most common source of EMTALA investigations and citations, local news reports periodically come to CMS attention and trigger EMTALA investigations. You can be assured that you are going to get a CMS visit in the near future when local headlines say something like “Man dies hours after being … Read more