Little Health Law Blog
Increasingly, our healthcare and business law firm’s clients are interested in opening concierge medicine practices. Little Health Law’s last blog post provided an overview of what concierge medicine is with references to compliance risks. This post outlines those very serious compliance risks for practices that treat Medicare patients and are not opted out of Medicare. If you have questions regarding this blog post or starting a concierge practice, you may contact us at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@littlehealthlaw.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.littlehealthlaw.com.
Understanding the compliance risks associated with concierge medicine practices requires understanding a fairly easy and, perhaps, obvious concept: Providers cannot bill patients for services paid for by their insurance; a practice referred to as “double billing.” Applying that concept is easier said than done. Consider the complexity in this: a concierge medicine practice requires a $200/month fee that includes “longer appointments,” which is a clear benefit to patients. Assuming the appointment itself is covered by insurance, is the fact that it’s longer something that insurance does not cover? Maybe, but maybe not. There are ample examples of how complex this question is and, as it relates to Medicare, CMS and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) offer minimal guidance.
Both concierge medicine and direct primary care practices have become popular alternatives to the traditional insurance medical practice model. In a previous post, we 
For various reasons, licensed medical providers may choose to voluntarily surrender their state medical license. Earlier this year, our healthcare and business law firm blogged about the repercussions of 
Many of our healthcare and business law firm’s clients have an interest in offering a practice that offers more flexibility to patients when it comes to in-person versus virtual visits. Deciding to offer telemedicine visits to your patients not only requires acquiring a video product that satisfies HIPAA and other privacy requirements but requires compliance with numerous laws at the state and federal level. This post analyzes potentially relevant federal laws and rules that currently apply during the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”). A subsequent post will provide an overview of state law considerations. If you have questions about 
We have seen a continued growth in the popularity of medical spas despite the hurdles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. See 
Our previous blog post provided an overview of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) Vaccine Mandate and addressed two basic questions of the mandate: 
Many of our healthcare and business law firm’s clients have questions about whether CMS’ vaccine mandate (a.k.a. the “federal healthcare worker vaccine mandate”) applies to their workforce. The vaccine mandate landscape is evolving. For instance, the OSHA vaccine mandate applicable to 100+ employee-businesses was overruled by the Supreme Court. The analysis herein is current as of the date this blog is posted and subject to change as agencies and courts release new decisions.
Many of our healthcare and business law firm’s clients are in the business of renting expensive medical equipment for use by medical practices. Generally, these arrangements raise compliance questions under 
Welcome to the third installment of our business and healthcare law firm’s monthly medical board meeting review, focusing on the Georgia Composite Medical Board (“Medical Board” or “GCMB”). As a healthcare law firm with physician clients, it is our duty to stay up to date with the Medical Board’s positions and changes so as to better inform our clients. If you have