In the wake of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), healthcare costs continue to rise both for the average American family and for their employers sponsoring healthcare plans. According to a recent article in the Insurance Journal, healthcare costs for the typical American family of four will increase by $1,456 this…
Little Health Law Blog
Neurosurgeon Pleads Guilty to Healthcare Fraud
Large financial recoveries are often seen as the principal motivation for the government’s unrelenting efforts to combat healthcare fraud. Perhaps a more important objective of the government’s efforts to combat healthcare fraud, however, is protecting patient safety. Chronic overutilization of healthcare, driven by a fee-for-service system with patient cost covered…
False Claims Act Compliance: 16 Hospitals to Pay $15.69 Million to Resolve Allegations of Medically Unnecessary Psychotherapy Services
By: Lee H. Little Health Care providers evaluating billing compliance for psychotherapy services should take caution from a recent multi-million dollar settlement under the federal False Claims Act involving allegedly unnecessary intensive outpatient psychotherapy (IOP) services. Georgia Healthcare Law Firm According to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) press release, the…
Medicare Fraud Indictment of Ophthalmologist
As Medicare fraud schemes continue to bilk federal taxpayers of billions of dollars, federal law enforcement continues to push diligently to identify and prosecute Medicare fraud. Because of the importance to federal law enforcement of ferreting out healthcare fraud schemes, it is critical for all healthcare providers and healthcare businesses…
FMLA Litigation: A Rising Tide Large Healthcare Employers Face
Hospital systems and other large healthcare providers face increasing risks associated with noncompliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as FMLA litigation is on the rise. According to Law360, FMLA litigation tripled in one year (from 2012 to 2013). Our Georgia business and healthcare law firm has litigated…
April 21, 2015, The Ambulatory M&A Advisor publishes attorney Kevin Little’s article entitled “ The Right Approach to Obtain a Good Physician Employment Agreement .”
The Ambulatory M&A Advisor publishes attorney Kevin Little’s article entitled “ The Right Approach to Obtain a Good Physician Employment Agreement .”
Cell Phones and Medical Malpractice
Post by Guest Author: Gyalia Rutledge RN, LNC Attorneys are increasingly becoming aware of distractions caused by cell phones, tablets and other technology in the clinical setting and how they play a role in medical malpractice cases. In fact, attorneys are now advertising statistics about “Distracted Doctors” on their website…
Georgia Medical Practices: Not Having a Compliance Program is AT YOUR FINANCIAL PERIL
Some critical details of The Affordable Care Act (ACA) are often omitted from the political rhetoric and other noise during public debate about whether the ACA is a “good” or “bad” thing. One such detail – and a huge one – is the ACA’s significant expansion of compliance risks for…
ICD-10 Implementation: What To Do Now
Post by Guest Author: Robert F. Polglase, MD, JD, CHCQM On Wednesday February 11, 2015 the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on healthcare held its much-awaited hearing on ICD-10 implementation, scheduled for October 1, 2015. Since the implementation delay last year, many providers have slowed down or stopped their…
Georgia Healthcare Providers Prepare: More HIPAA Audits in 2015
HIPAA Audits 2015 Auditing is to Increase; Increased Contractors; Business Associates at Risk By: Brian L Tuttle, CHP, CHA, CPHIT, CBRA, CCNA, CISSP Well D-Day in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) world (September 23, 2013) has come and gone and we are all still here, the…