For the better part of the last three years, many healthcare providers either voluntarily or by force have put many of the mandated HIPAA self-assessment audit requirements on the back burner. As has been seen most recently, that is all about to change…significantly.
By way of background, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH) requires the Department of Health and Human Services to periodically audit covered entities and business associates for their compliance with the requirements of HIPAA. During these audits, covered entities are often asked to produce policies and procedures as well as evidence that they have been conducting accurate and thorough assessments of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all electronically-protected health information (PHI) that they create, receive, maintain or transmit.To assist these entities in maintaining compliance, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has provided many different self-assessment tools, many of which can be found here.
Since the onset of COVID however, many covered entities have been faced with other significant challenges including strict adherence to vaccine and quarantine requirements as well as significant reductions in workforce and discretionary income often needed to conduct such intensive HIPAA self-assessments. Continue reading ›
Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers and other allied health professionals who are beginning their journeys of opening a Medical Spa. They have been 
Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers and other allied health professionals who are beginning their journeys of opening a Medical Spa. Medical Spas have been 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in obtaining and maintaining licensure. Sometimes, physicians desire assistance to ensure a smooth process without having any occurrences to disclose. The majority of the time, however, when we are hired to assist in licensure matters, the physician has a past or ongoing event that they need assistance with. We usually begin by evaluating whether the occurrence must be, should be, or need not be disclosed. One important question that is always present and concerning to many is the mental health question, which is also the first question on the Applicant Questionnaire section of the license application in Georgia. There have been different iterations of this question over the years, and earlier this year, the Medical Board modified the questions once again. This post explains the progression of this question in Georgia. If you need 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists medical practices in responding to medical record and coding audits initiated by private and governmental payors. If a payor believes there are consistent concerns with a medical practice’s claims, the payor may place the practice under a prepayment review process. This process can be very concerning to a practice and, in some cases, can place a practice at risk of shutting down. A previous post provided an 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists medical practices in responding to medical record and coding audits initiated by private and governmental payors. If a payor believes there are consistent concerns with a medical practice’s claims, the payor may place the practice under a prepayment review process. This process can be very concerning to a practice and, in some cases, can place a practice at risk of shutting down. If you have questions about an 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists medical practices in responding to medical record and coding audits initiated by private and governmental payors. Responding to each payor is unique. The way I might respond to a private payor may differ from how I respond to a government payor. This post, however, provides a few tried-and-true tips to consider when faced with an audit. If you have questions about an 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists provider and medical practice clients with preparing informed consents. Many clients offer treatments in an off-label use and question whether informed consents are necessary for such use. Currently, there is no FDA requirement to get a patient’s informed consent, but it may be beneficial for your practice to implement off-label informed consents. If you have questions about patient consents or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare and business law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in employment matters, from reviewing proposed contracts to litigating 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in employment matters, from reviewing proposed contracts to litigating