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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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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

…

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…

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…