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Barry Rosen and Justin Katz: ‘One satisfaction rule’ not always clear
A well-settled legal principle in Maryland, commonly known as the “one satisfaction rule,” generally limits injured parties to one full recovery for their injuries. While superficially simple, the notion of what constitutes one satisfaction is not always clear. In a recent illustrative matter, Maryland’s highest appellate court barred an injured party’s medical malpractice recovery because[...]
Marijuana: Here come the feds?
Immediately after the first legal medical marijuana dispensaries opened in Maryland in December, the Trump administration issued a memo reversing Obama-era policy that allowed states to determine their marijuana rules largely without interference from federal prosecutors. The potential for renewed enforcement of federal law has made people anxious, especially doctors who face unique exposure becau[...]
Legal issues with geofencing medical data
Regulators are now watching advertisers’ use of geofencing techniques when applied to consumer medical data. In April, the attorney general of Massachusetts reached a settlement with Copley Advertising that prohibits Copley from geofencing medical centers within Massachusetts for the purpose of inferring a person’s health status, medical condition, or medical treatment. What is geofencing? A [[...]
Rosen & Coppel: Bankruptcy and Medicare, Medicaid provider agreements
Can bankruptcy prevent the termination of a Medicare or Medicaid provider agreement? Until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue, the answer to the foregoing question is “maybe.” Outside of bankruptcy, health care providers that want to contest a termination of their Medicare or Medicaid provider agreements by the Secretary of Health and […]
Barry F. Rosen: A rundown of the new state health care laws
The Maryland General Assembly recently passed a number of laws that will impact health insurance and health care practice in Maryland. Here is a list of some of those legislative highlights. Certificates of Need Historically, a Maryland hospital has not needed a Certificate of Need to close, but needed to hold a hearing and obtain […]
Rosen and Katz: FTC double downs on HIPAA
Because health care providers are governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, they do not usually worry about the authority of the Federal Trade Commission in regard to data security. However, the FTC’s actions against LabMD and the Wyndham hotels may set that belief on its proverbial head. The FTC Act The FTC […]
Barry F. Rosen and Margaret M. Witherup: If a referral quacks like a duck
Under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, it is illegal knowingly and willfully to solicit or to receive any remuneration in return for referring an individual to a person for the purpose of furnishing health care services paid in whole or in part by a federal health care program. A federal appellate court recently held that a […]
Barry F. Rosen and Catherine A. Bledsoe: Hospital CEO blows whistle
A federal appeals court recently held, in United States v. Health Management Associates, that a hospital executive’s firsthand knowledge of the hospital’s business practices provided a sufficient basis for him as a relator to state a qui tam claim against the hospital under the False Claims Act, even though the executive failed to allege the […]
Barry F. Rosen: What Population Health means for Maryland
The Population Health model of health care is sweeping the country, as government, health insurers and even hospitals are now incentivizing physicians to change their approach to patient care to keep people healthier and lower health care costs. These incentives include paying health care providers to keep people healthy, or sharing the resulting savings with […]
Barry F. Rosen and Victor A. Kwansa: Courts 2, health systems 0
The federal antitrust laws prohibit conspiracies to restrain trade, attempts to monopolize, as well as mergers that may substantially lessen competition. States also have similar laws. Recently, a Florida federal court allowed several doctors to pursue their monopolization claims against the leading provider of health care services in Southern Brevard County, and a Massachusetts state […]
Barry F. Rosen: Immunize against HIPAA flu
In December 2013, the Office of Civil Rights of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, the agency charged with enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (commonly known as HIPAA), imposed a $150,000 penalty for alleged HIPAA violations against a dermatology practice, APDerm. The case is especially instructive for health care providers of all sizes.
Barry F. Rosen: Stripping away peer review secrecy
Peer review laws have been enacted in all 50 states. The intent of these laws is to improve the quality of health care by providing a system for health care institutions to evaluate the qualifications, competence and performance of health care providers.
