Erin Dunlap Provides Insight on Overturned HIPAA Penalty for Healthcare Risk Management

Erin Dunlap Educates Healthcare Risk Management Readers on HIPAA Requirements and Most Critical Compliance Steps

After a small orthopedic clinic in Georgia was fined $1.5 million for HIPAA violations, Healthcare Risk Management turned to health care and data privacy attorney Erin Dunlap to share what smaller providers can do to protect themselves from cyber risk and government enforcement. Erin, a nationally recognized expert in health care data privacy and security, explains that although the HIPAA Security Rule has existed for nearly 20 years, many smaller healthcare providers lack adequate security measures to protect against increasingly pervasive cyber risk. She advises providers to conduct a risk analysis — which is the first critical step in meeting HIPAA security requirements and can be done internally or by an outside vendor. If resources are limited, she points providers to the Security Risk Assessment Tool that...

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Roopali Desai Included in Business Insider’s List of AZ Cannabis Industry Power Players

Roopali Desai Included in Business Insider’s List of AZ Cannabis Industry Power Players

After Arizona voters passed Proposition 207 to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, Business Insider highlighted 11 power players who are shaping the new, potentially multi-million-dollar market. As the attorney responsible for drafting the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, Roopali Desai was featured. The Campaign, which was supported by the Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA), contracted Roopali to craft the initiative’s language. She and law partner, Andy Gaona, continually revised the language after meeting with stakeholders, including company executives, criminal justice advocates, first responders, and others. Moving forward, Roopali and the firm will continue to work with ADA as well as the Arizona Department of Health Services to implement the new legislation. A leading election lawyer in Arizona, Roopali is known for her experience representing initiative, referendum, and...

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Coppersmith Brockelman Launches its Information Blocking Toolkit for Health Care Providers

As health care providers are hit with more and more regulatory changes, legal, compliance and privacy personnel are struggling to keep up. Coppersmith Brockelman PLC offers some relief! Coppersmith Brockelman just released its Information Blocking Rule Toolkit for Health Care Providers (“Toolkit”). The Toolkit provides practical guidance, regulatory crosswalks, template documents and educational materials to help providers get started on an information blocking compliance program to meet the April 5, 2021 deadline. The Toolkit includes: “Information Blocking FAQs: What health care providers need to know about information blocking compliance”A “Checklist for Health Care Providers: How to Create and Implement an Information Blocking Rule Compliance Action Plan”A template “No Information Blocking Policy”A guidance document for “Updating HIPAA Policies and Procedures for Information Blocking Rule Compliance,” which includes a checklist...

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Sam Coppersmith Co-Presents National Business Institute Webinar on Start-to-Finish Nonprofit Formation

Sam Coppersmith Co-Presents National Business Institute Webinar 
on Start-to-Finish Nonprofit Formation

Navigating eligibility requirements, processing procedures, bylaws, exemptions, and other complexities of the 501(c)(3) application process can be challenging. In the National Business Institute (NBI) webinar, “501(c)(3) Organization Formation From Start to Finish,” Sam Coppersmith shares tips for advising nonprofit clients through the application process. Focusing on the onerous requirements for obtaining nonprofit designation from the IRS and how to identify problematic issues, Sam’s portion covers critical portions of the designation process, including: TCJA and other laws, rules, regs, and enforcement activities impacting nonprofitsEligibility requirements and classificationsEstablishing tax exempt status with the IRS Sam has more than three decades of experience assisting local and national businesses, non-profit entities and individuals. A regular speaker for NBI, he covers a range of non-profit-related topics, including private foundations, forming a nonprofit, tax-exempt...

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Scott Bennett Informs Healthcare Risk Management Readers About Compensation Compliance

Scott Bennett Informs Healthcare Risk Management Readers About Compensation Compliance

A recent $50 million settlement over kickback allegations at a West Virginia hospital is a warning for health care organizations testing the limits of the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Healthcare Risk Management turned to Scott Bennett for insights on how hospitals can reduce risk and ensure compliance with these regulations. Scott explains that under the False Claims Act, anyone with information about an inappropriate arrangement regarding physician compensation can file a lawsuit. To prevent costly lawsuits, hospitals should have clear practices to collect and investigate any concerns employees raise. Moreover, hospitals should get a fair market value opinion regarding compensation from a healthcare appraisal firm. With extensive experience regarding the Stark Law and federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Scott advises hospitals and other health care providers. He...

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ASU College of Health Solutions Lauds Mel Soliz’s Contributions to MDC Advisory Board

Melissa Soliz and AHCCCS Help Health Care Attorneys Understand Interoperability Requirement for Health Plans

Presenting jointly with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) at the Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (AZSHA), Melissa Soliz unpacked the complex interoperability requirements facing CMS-regulated payers.   Mel explained the interoperability and patient access requirements for CMS-regulated payers, including the Patient Access Application Programming Interface (API), the Provider Directory API, and Payer-to-Payer Exchange. Mel also specified what hospitals need to know about Conditions of Participation (CoPs) e-notification requirements under the new rule. With a regulatory health law practice focusing on compliance with data privacy and patient access law (including the new Information Blocking Rule and CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule), Mel assists her clients in structuring real-world policies, programs and agreements to meet federal and state regulations. She regularly speaks in local...

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