Tag Archives: healthcare

The COVID-19 Strain on Health Care Remains, As Administrators Look to Long-Term Impacts

By Meredith F. Bergeson on Posted in: Healthcare
In March 2021, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released results from a national survey conducted between February 22-26, 2021 of front-line hospital administrators at 320 hospitals across 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.  The purpose of the survey was to assess … Continue Reading

Small NJ Medical Practice Becomes 18th Target of OCR’s HIPAA Right of Access Enforcement Initiative

By Joseph J. Lazzarotti on Posted in: Healthcare
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has taken enforcement action against a small New Jersey plastic surgery practice for its failure to timely respond to a patient’s records access request. Putting in place relatively simple policies, carefully developing template forms, assigning responsibility, training, and documenting responses can go a long way toward substantially minimizing the … Continue Reading

Department of Labor’s Latest FAQs Expand “Health Care Providers” and Define “Emergency Responders” Under FFCRA

By Michael R. Bertoncini and Patricia Anderson Pryor on Posted in: Healthcare
The Department of Labor has been hard at work issuing FAQs to try to explain the provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act before it goes into effect on April 1, 2020.  To see earlier reports on these FAQs, see our blog posts on March 24th and March 27th. The latest FAQs (we are … Continue Reading

H-1B Visa Processing Delays Underscored by Extraordinary Need for Healthcare Workers

By Amy L. Peck on Posted in: Healthcare
Processing delays for immigration cases have increased by 46 percent in the past two fiscal years and 91 percent since FY 2014. One healthcare staffing company has sued Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services, alleging the delays in issuing H-1Bs “is impairing [their] ability to effectively and efficiently meet the medical … Continue Reading

Religious Accommodation and Patient Safety in Healthcare Industry

By Y. Jed Charner, Mary M. McCudden and Michael R. Bertoncini on Posted in: Healthcare
During a recent webinar, our Healthcare team provided practical case studies with clear takeaways and best practices for reasonably accommodating employees’ sincerely-held religious beliefs without compromising patient safety. You can watch the webinar recording at your convenience. Additionally, the team compiled a list of frequently asked questions about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act reasonable … Continue Reading

Pay Equity Challenges Continue: EEOC Sues Nursing Home for Paying Female Nurse Less

By Jessica M. Marsh on Posted in: Healthcare
Pay equity challenges continue to make the news in the healthcare setting, primarily in the context of physician pay equity gaps. This month, the journal Pediatrics published data from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study (PLACE), which included 1,000 physician responses on income and 1,300 responses on household responsibilities. The … Continue Reading

New York Expands Telemedicine Regulations

By Julieann Diamond-Carrow, Ashley Solowan and Jackson Lewis P.C. on Posted in: Healthcare
The authorized use of telehealth to deliver mental health services to New Yorkers has been expanded by amendments to the state Office of Mental Health’s (OMH) Telemental Health Services regulations increasing the types of professionals who may provide care and the places where care recipients can be treated. Our colleagues in the Health Law and Transactions … Continue Reading

Vermont Court Finds Patient Can Sue Hospital and an Employee for Breach of Confidentiality

By Jason C. Gavejian and Maya Atrakchi on Posted in: Healthcare
In a landmark ruling, the Vermont Supreme Court recently held that a patient had standing to sue both the hospital at which she was a patient and the employee who attended to her, for negligent disclosure of her personal health information to a third-party. Neither the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) nor Vermont … Continue Reading

New York City Ban on Pre-Employment Drug Testing Won’t Apply to (most) Healthcare Workers

By Michael J. Kozimor on Posted in: Healthcare, Privacy
On May 10, 2019, a bill amending New York City’s administrative code related to prospective employee drug-testing officially became law for New York City employers. While the law does not go into effect until May 10, 2020, it is the first of its kind in the nation. The law prohibits employers from requiring applicants to … Continue Reading

House Pushes OSHA to Create a Standard Concerning Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Sector

By Trever L. Neuroth on Posted in: Healthcare
Members of the House of Representatives recently introduced legislation that would require the Department of Labor to promulgate a standard addressing workplace violence in the healthcare and social service industries. Under the bill, the standard would need to include requirements for employers in the healthcare and social service industries to develop comprehensive plans protecting workers … Continue Reading

Healthcare Lawyers Meeting Highlights Need for a Coordinated Approach to Preventing Sexual Harassment in Hospitals

By Michael R. Bertoncini on Posted in: Healthcare
Speakers at the 2019 American Health Lawyers Association’s Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute repeatedly emphasized the importance of a coordinated approach to preventing harassment in hospitals. Programs at the conference reviewed the history of the #MeToo movement and its effect on hospitals and the healthcare field generally. One speaker cited Medscape’s Sexual Harassment of Physicians … Continue Reading

‘Tis the Season for Budget Negotiations: What is the Potential Impact of Another Government Shutdown on Healthcare?

By Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood on Posted in: Healthcare
With less than a week left on the December 21st deadline to reach a spending deal and avoid another government shutdown, tensions are high in Washington D.C. On Tuesday, President Trump stated he would refuse to sign a spending bill that did not contain a $5 billion allocation for a border wall.  It is questionable, … Continue Reading

Is your e-PHI Secure? ONC and OCR Update HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool

By Valerie K. Jackson and Jason C. Gavejian on Posted in: Healthcare
October 2018 marks the 15th annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month. In honor of this occasion, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have jointly launched an updated HIPAA Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool to help covered entities and business associates comply with … Continue Reading

Labor Department Independent Contractors Guidance Targets Home Care, Nursing, Caregiver Registries

By Patrick O. Peters on Posted in: Healthcare
In its first substantive guidance on independent contractors, the Trump Administration has targeted misclassification in the healthcare industry. Our colleagues in the Staffing & Independent Workforce team offer details on the July 13, 2018 guidance to Wage and Hour Division field staff on determining whether home care, nurse, or caregiver registries are employers under the … Continue Reading

Physician Pay Equity Issues Are Under the Microscope

By Jessica M. Marsh on Posted in: Healthcare
As our blog reported on June 21, and as is the case across many industries, issues related to physician pay equity are receiving increased attention nationwide. Doximity’s 2018 Physician Compensation Report (its second annual report) contained key national findings on the gender wage gap that point to widespread disparities in physician compensation: The overall disparity … Continue Reading

American Medical Association Adopts Resolution to Promote Pay Equity

By Sarah R. Skubas and Margaret J. Strange on Posted in: Healthcare
The healthcare industry is following other industries with an increased focus and growing sense of alarm over the gender pay gap. According to Doximity, in 2017, female physicians on average earned $105,000 (27.7%) less than male physicians.  Similarly, a 2016 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that female academic physicians … Continue Reading

Are You Accessible In Cyberspace?—Healthcare Is Not Immune From the Latest ADA Title III Trend

By Elizabeth S. Gerling on Posted in: Healthcare
Public accommodation lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have been around for years, but traditionally involve physical barriers such as narrow parking spots or access aisles, lack of elevators, and inaccessible restrooms.  Increasingly, these lawsuits are not just confined to brick-and-mortar accommodations, but involve cyberspace.  For example, individuals who are … Continue Reading

The Joint Commission Issues Seven New Workplace Violence Prevention Recommendations

By Valerie K. Jackson on Posted in: Healthcare
Many healthcare workers experience violence in the workplace often resulting from violent behavior by their patients, clients and/or residents. What can healthcare organizations do to improve safety and minimize the risk of workplace violence? In an effort to help healthcare organizations better prevent and address violence in the workplace, The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest … Continue Reading

“Your Own Cybersecurity Is Not Enough”: NJ Physician Practice Fined Over $400,000 for Data Breach Caused By Vendor

By Joseph J. Lazzarotti on Posted in: Healthcare, Privacy, Uncategorized
New Jersey’s Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) recently announced that a physician group affiliated with more than 50 South Jersey medical and surgical practices agreed to pay $417,816 and improve data security practices to settle allegations it failed to properly protect the privacy of more than 1,650 patients … Continue Reading

Health Apps: Convenience vs. Security Risks

By Christopher E. Hoyme on Posted in: Healthcare
The pace of innovation in healthcare today has produced an amazing increase in the number of available mobile apps for health-related information. More than 300,000 healthcare apps are available online. Our colleagues in the Workplace Privacy, Data Management & Security practice group discusses whether healthcare providers can tap into the available technology of “connectivity” and … Continue Reading

“Vaccinate” Your Mandatory Flu Shot Policies Against Litigation

By Jessica M. Marsh on Posted in: Healthcare, Labor, Policies
As we have just survived one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, now is a good time to consider whether you should implement or revise a mandatory flu shot policy for 2018.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all United States healthcare workers obtain annual flu vaccines.  While many healthcare employers … Continue Reading

Why the Healthcare Industry Should Pay Particular Attention to Drug and Alcohol Issues in the Workplace

By Sarah R. Skubas on Posted in: Healthcare
While all employers struggle with navigating the ever-changing landscape of drug and alcohol issues in the workplace, healthcare employers should pay particularly close attention. According to the annual Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index, illicit drug use among U.S. employees continues to rise, resulting in the highest drug test positivity rates in the last 12 years. … Continue Reading

Navigating the Waters of Late Age Physician Testing

By Mary M. McCudden on Posted in: Healthcare
Rheumatologist Ephraim Engleman practiced medicine until he died at age 104 in 2015. Although Dr. Engleman’s story is atypical, as our colleagues who attended the American Health Lawyers Association’s 2018 Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute reported, and the Association of American Medicine Medical College’s November 2017 State Physician Workforce Data Report confirms, an increasing number … Continue Reading

Top 7 Legal Challenges Facing Physicians and Hospitals

By Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood and Michael R. Bertoncini on Posted in: Healthcare
The American Health Lawyers Association’s 2018 Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute in New Orleans focused on the legal challenges faced by physicians and hospitals. Here are the Jackson Lewis Healthcare Industry Team’s “Top 7” takeaways from the attorneys who attended the conference: Healthcare and labor & employment law are hot. According to Law360, Labor & … Continue Reading
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