News Briefs - FTC Finalizes Providers' Reporting Rules Prior to M&A - The Federal Trade Commission has made changes to a rule meant to improve its ability to detect illegal mergers and acquisitions before they happen, by...more
10/25/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
DEA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Health Care ,
Hospice ,
Nursing Homes ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
All Medicare-certified skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) must be surveyed annually and not more than every 15 months, as well as on other occasions, such as for complaint investigations and revisits to determine compliance...more
News Briefs - FTC Finalizes Providers' Reporting Rules Prior to M&A - The Federal Trade Commission finalized changes to a rule that will require healthcare companies, including hospitals and providers, to provide more...more
10/21/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Supply Chain
News Briefs - 75% of Hospitals Spending More on Tech to Boost Cybersecurity - Three-quarters of hospitals and health systems spent more on information technology last year and many will continue to do so, with greater focus...more
10/15/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
The federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) is the United States’ primary civil tool for prosecuting fraud against the government. It was enacted in 1863 during the Civil War and, from its inception, has included qui tam provisions...more
News Briefs - Study Says Telemedicine Improved Quality of Doctors' Patient Care - Telemedicine helped improve the quality of doctors' patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic and has the potential for improving physician...more
10/8/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Information Technology ,
Labor Shortage ,
OIG ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
News Briefs - House Committee Approves Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 - A House committee voted to advance a bill that would extend telehealth flexibilities in Medicare for another two years. The legislation, called the...more
10/2/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Drug Pricing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
HRSA ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - HHS Offers 75,000 Pages in Defense of Nursing Home Staffing Mandate - The Department of Health and Human Services filed more than 75,000 pages of rule-making records with a federal court, beginning its formal...more
9/26/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biotechnology ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
News Briefs - Licensure Compact Aims to Allow PAs to Practice in Other States - By 2028, the nation as a whole will be short some 100,000 critical health care workers, according to a new report....more
9/23/2024
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Nurses ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth ,
Vaccinations
News Briefs - HHS Drops Appeal of Court's Ruling in Hospital Web Tracking Case - The Department of Health and Human Services is dropping its appeal of a June U.S. District Court ruling that vacated the government's...more
9/11/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth ,
Web Tracking
News Briefs - Statistics Show Upward Trend in Healthcare Data Breaches - Healthcare data breach statistics clearly show there has been an upward trend in data breaches over the past 14 years, with 2021 seeing more data...more
9/4/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data Breach ,
Drug Pricing ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
HRSA ,
Medical Devices ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Surprise Medical Bills
News Briefs - Physicians Responsible for Meeting CMS Information Blocking Rules - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology issued a final rule that...more
8/29/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Healthcare ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - State Governments Taking Steps to Make Rules on Healthcare AI - In the absence of federal guardrails on artificial intelligence in healthcare, state governments are figuring out their own rules of the road....more
8/21/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Drug Pricing ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Private Equity ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Surprise Medical Bills
News Briefs - CMS Increases Acute Care Inpatient Hospital Payments by $2.9B - HHS has finalized the fiscal year 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System rule. The rule...more
8/13/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data Breach ,
Elder Care ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Health Care ,
Hospitals ,
Nursing Homes ,
Physicians ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Urgent Care Facilities
News Briefs - Joint Employer Rule Withdrawn by National Labor Relations Board - The National Labor Relations Board withdrew its appeal of a district court ruling that enjoined its "joint employer" final rule....more
8/5/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Health ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Shortage ,
NLRB ,
Nursing Homes ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Telehealth
AGG’s Government Investigations Team Insights provides periodic updates covering legal and regulatory topics. Our team, which includes former federal prosecutors, SEC enforcement attorneys, and federal agency attorneys, has...more
7/23/2024
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fraud ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Investigations ,
Health Care Providers ,
Jury Trial ,
Medicare ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Authority ,
Whistleblowers
News Briefs - High Court Ruling on Chevron Doctrine Could Impact Health Credit - When the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine on June 28, it ended the mandate that federal courts should defer to federal agencies'...more
7/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Investment ,
Labor Shortage ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Private Equity
News Briefs - Texas Federal Court Ruling Puts Noncompete Ban on Hold - A Texas federal court issued a preliminary injunction against the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, which if implemented would allow existing...more
7/12/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Nursing Homes ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Shared Savings Program
News Briefs - Survey Finds Decline in Telehealth Use Across Most Groups in 2022 - The percentage of adults who used telehealth in the past year dropped from 37 percent in 2021 to 30.1 percent in 2022, with declines observed...more
7/1/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Nursing Homes ,
Ransomware ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - New Foreign Nurse Visas Frozen by State Department - The State Department has essentially frozen foreign nurse visas for the rest of the fiscal year amid high demand, and health groups are warning it threatens...more
6/28/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Shortage ,
Medicare ,
Nurses ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telemedicine ,
Visas
If you know, you know. The government’s less familiar version — if most know, the defendant knows — just got a boost from the Supreme Court of the United States, which recently held that Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) did...more
News Briefs - Lawmakers Boosting Investigation of P.E. Role in Healthcare - Influential U.S. Senators are the latest to launch investigations into private equity's increasing role in owning and operating everything from...more
6/25/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Nurses ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Private Equity ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Section 340B
News Briefs - Hospital Lobbies Join Attempt to Delay Noncompete Ban -Hospital lobbies have signed on to a multisector letter of 230 industry associations and chambers of commerce urging the Federal Trade Commission to bump...more
6/18/2024
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Digital Health ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Health Care ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Ransomware ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - Appeals Court Rules Drug Firms Can Limit 340B Discounted Drugs - An appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling on 340B that sided with drug manufacturers. At issue is whether pharmaceutical companies can...more
6/4/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently considered a district court’s nearly $6 million judgment in a qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit based on Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) violations. The...more