Advancing Health Care The Old-Fashioned Way0

This article, Advancing Health Care the Old-Fashioned Way, was first published by Healthcare Innovation News on February 8, 2015.


Stethoscope and hourglass with book.“Nothing recedes like progress.” — Edward Estlin (e.e.) Cummings

Though cutting-edge technology serves as the foundation for modern American healthcare, an accurate measure of progress must consider the occasional conflict between society and science. Even as yesterday’s medical miracles give way to what are now considered “state of the art” practices, it is the duty of health care providers to remain mindful of both sides of the equation, balancing the capabilities of today’s technologies with the needs of today’s patient. If society and science are not in sync, patient care will suffer, and sometimes we can only advance healthcare through old-fashioned methods. For example, radiology information systems (RIS) and picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) collaborate to deliver dynamic and brilliant medical images to any healthcare provider around the globe with access to a desktop computer or mobile device. And yet, if these technologically advanced tools of the trade fail to employ the appropriate methods of encryption as they transmit digital health information to a doctor’s iPad as he or she vacations on the island of Tristan da Cunha, or worse, send this sensitive information to the hard drive of any one of the island’s 297 permanent residents living in the recesses of the Atlantic Ocean, a data breach occurs. This is no small matter for the hospital of today, and could easily result in a series of fines that could force the shutting of its doors for a single infraction.

… Read more →

Administrative, Clinical, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory, Technology

A Brave New Medicare0

This article, A Brave New Medicare, was first published in California Healthcare News on February 4, 2015. 

Caduceus background“Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” —Aldous Huxley

Next month the Affordable Care Act turns five, and by all accounts the influence of this historic legislation will forever change the landscape of health care in the United States, regardless of its ultimate fate. As each passing year introduces thousands of new regulatory pages to an already expansive body of federal and state law, praise for what has come to be known as health care reform is only rivaled by the relentless partisan calls for its repeal.

Recognition of the Affordable Care Act’s more laudable accomplishments should not be overlooked, especially the elimination of preexisting conditions, an overall reduction in the number of uninsured, and, according to some experts, findings that point to an actual slowing in health care spending at a national level. On the other hand, we as a nation must also be mindful of any collateral damage caused by reform, especially when considering that the immediate statistical data used to document the success of reform tends to present itself easily, while the longer-term, potentially less favorable information upon which the Affordable Care Act can also be judged may take decades to unfold. … Read more →

Administrative, Clinical, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, Lost Hospital, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory, Technology

Affordable Care Act and Health Plans Offered by Religious Employers0

Update from The State Bar Business Law Section’s HEALTH LAW COMMITTEE – The Affordable Care Act and Health Plans Offered by Religious Employers

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Since first announced in August 2011, the inclusion of contraceptive care as a mandatory component in the employer promotion of preventative services sparked a First Amendment inferno that many thought threatened the Affordable Care Act as well as a number of additional federal and state laws.  As a result, the Federal Government partially recanted this requirement by delaying its implementation for certain entities by an additional year. Regulations promulgated in 2012 kept contraceptive care in the gamut of preventative services, but created a temporary enforcement safe harbor for objecting employers. In 2013, the Federal Government issued proposed rules in an attempt to end the contraception controversy and its challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s commitment to preventative services. Some 200,000 comments later, the preventative services coverage rules in 2013 lowered the burden so employers can sidestep certain separations between church and state.  … Read more →

E-Bulletins, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Healthcare Reform, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory

Lessons Learned from Dial-Up0

This article was first published in the Daily Journal on May 15, 2014.

iStock_000013044243MediumIn the largest cities across the U.S., locating an Internet connection has become as easy as finding a cup of coffee. In modern times, however, the ability to effectively communicate in business is inextricably connected to the rate by which one is able to transfer data. Like a bad cup of coffee, we may tolerate a slow connection when options are limited, but no one really enjoys it. Lessons from both support the notion that we not only prefer quality speed, but it also improves our performance at work.

If bit rates are the standard measurement for telecommunications, hospital beds present the equivalent in health care. … Read more →

Administrative, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, Lost Hospital, Miscellaneous, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory, Technology

Another Healthcare Crisis: Closing Hospitals0

This Op-ed appeared in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 2014.

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Lower Oconee Community Hospital in southern Georgia closed its doors this month, eliminating 25 hospital beds and up to 100 hospital jobs. This was the fourth Georgia hospital to fold in two years and the eighth rural hospital in the state to close since 2000. Although Lower Oconee’s shutdown may not have registered much media coverage, those in search of medical attention in Glenwood, Ga., should be mindful that the closest hospital is now 30 miles away. As reference, Santa Ana  is 30 miles from Los Angeles. When faced with a medical emergency, no one fancies a long road trip. … Read more →

Administrative, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, Lost Hospital, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory

American Health Care’s Temporal Order0

(January 26, 2014) The world of contemporary health care is not based upon absolutes, but rather an ever-evolving system of beliefs influenced at any given time by a confluence of advances in science, popular culture, current events and religion.  As these and other components shape that which we as a nation accept as truth, some historical notions transition away from their previously influential roles in society, to be replaced by ideologies that better conform to modern standards.  Given enough time and perspective, these erstwhile canons can even transcend into the realm of mythology and folklore. As with the idea that the mentally ill were once widely believed to be victims of demonic possession, what was once considered an immutable medical truth is now viewed as a quaint theory of an immature age.

Historically, the science of medicine presents a wealth of examples to show how fleeting truth can be, even within the context of life and death. … Read more →

Administrative, Clinical, Community, Health Care Law, Historical, Hospitals, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory, Technology

The Beginning of Health Care Reform Nears Its End0

This article was first published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal on December 16, 2013.

iStock_000023873789Small“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

The countdown to 2014 has begun. In the days to come, millions of Americans will choreograph exactly where to be at midnight on New Year’s Eve, full of resolutions and expectations for the coming year. This January 1 holds a special significance for our country, as the dropping of that massive 11,875-pound ball in New York City’s Times Square represents what many have for four years hoped to be the heralding of an epic transformation in our nation’s health care. Though unable to predict the future as in fairy tales of old, the descent of that Waterford crystal ball marks the coming of age of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), still shrouded in controversy and fighting for a foothold on which to support itself. … Read more →

Administrative, Children's Health, Clinical, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory, Technology

The Struggle to Find a Home in the Affordable Care Act and a Place in History0

This article first appeared in the Pharmaceutical Compliance Monitor on October 14, 2013.
iStock_000000954565Medium“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”  –Jean-Paul Sartre

When discussing the prospect of change to the structure of the American health care system, a little background is in order. Historically, the pharmaceutical industry has yielded to certain cyclical patterns that emerge when a new drug or treatment is introduced to the marketplace or new regulations come into effect, resulting in an initial surge followed in time by greater restraints imposed from both the federal and state level. Since its inception in 2010, the Affordable Care Act has in many ways preempted these cycles as it seeks to provide a nearly universal health care blanket by constructing a new foundation made of regulatory building blocks aimed at shifting emphasis from a cost based to a performance driven philosophy that it believes will reduce fraud and waste, thereby lowering costs across the board.  Within its folds exist a number of pharmaceutical specific studies and programs designed to more accurately police the industry as the federal government attempts to curtail spending. With the emergence of the ACA, today’s pharmaceutical companies find themselves in an all too familiar situation, overlooking a vast new horizon of potentiality while beset by a host of new rules, where the prospect of greater market opportunity grapples with the restrictions that accompany increased regulation. … Read more →

Administrative, Clinical, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, News, Non Clinical, Pharmacy, Regulatory

Don’t Fear the Federal Register0

The article was first published on June  24, 2013, at CorporateComplianceInsights.com.

“’What is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversations?’”

—Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

When it comes to federal regulations, there is an unfortunate dearth of illustrations. Instead, promulgation comes solely through the written word, as it did recently on the first business day in June 2013, when the Federal Register published volume 78, Number 108.  Born from an act of Congress known as the “Federal Register Act” (49 Stat. 500-503 (July 26, 1935)), the Federal Register will be 78 years old this summer and boasts its own international standard serial number (ISSN 0097-6326). By its own admission, “[t]he Federal Register provides a uniform system for making available to the public regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies.  These include Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other federal agency documents of public interest.”

The value of the Register is beyond measure. To be sure, regulatory transparency is a fundamental tenet upon which industry leaders must rely, and health care compliance professionals are certainly no exception. … Read more →

Administrative, Community, Health Care Law, Health Care Reform, Historical, Hospitals, News, Non Clinical, Regulatory

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