Destination: Health Law

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Sarah Churchill Llamas

Latest from Destination: Health Law

Destination: Health Law

Considerations for Telehealth Providers When Developing Policies and Procedures for Treating Patients with Behavioral/ Mental Health Warning Signs

By Sarah Churchill Llamas, Bhavesh Modi & Michael Smith

June 30, 2020

It is difficult to identify any aspect of everyday life that the global COVID-19 pandemic has not, in some way, impacted or altered. As the healthcare community valiantly responds and adjusts to the myriad challenges associated with the novel coronavirus, individual patients have also been forced to rearrange in the midst of the public health crisis. For healthcare providers and patients, COVID-19 has upended many aspects of life that not long ago seemed rather stable…

Destination: Health Law

HHS Announces COVID Funds for Skilled Nursing Facilities

By Corinne Smith, Kevin Wood & Sarah Churchill Llamas

May 22, 2020

On Friday May 22, HHS announced its decision to award funding in the amount of $50,000 per skilled nursing facility (SNF) with an additional $2500 per licensed bed as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act stimulus package in response to the COVID 19 crisis. This funding is intended to address critical needs such as increased testing capacity, increased labor costs, acquisition costs related to personal protective equipment and other expenses linked…

Destination: Health Law

Governor Abbott Eases Ban on Elective Procedures

By Marshall Meringola, Kevin Wood, Sarah Churchill Llamas & Corinne Smith

April 22, 2020

On April 17, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a series of Executive Orders, including Executive Order GA-15, which go into effect as of 11:59 pm on April 21, 2020, and continue through May 8, 2020, unless amended or extended by the Governor.…

Destination: Health Law

WEBINAR – A Look at Some Legal Implications of COVID-19 on Healthcare Real Estate

By Andy Dow, Corinne Smith & Kevin Wood

April 17, 2020

The healthcare real estate industry finds itself in unchartered waters while grappling with the myriad issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Landlords are flooded with requests from tenants for rent relief as healthcare providers are facing unprecedented financial pressure during the COVID-19 crisis.…

Destination: Health Law

A Look at Some Legal Implications of COVID-19 on Healthcare Real Estate

By Andy Dow

April 13, 2020

Conventional wisdom has held that the healthcare real estate industry is generally recession resistant. While that has historically been the case, the conventional wisdom did not account for a recession caused solely by a public health crisis due to a global pandemic. While the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare real estate market remain to be seen, the short-term effects of the pandemic are already being felt throughout the industry.…

Destination: Health Law

CMS Issues COVID-19 Stark Law Blanket Waivers

By Sarah Churchill Llamas, Corinne Smith, Kevin Wood & Michael Smith

April 8, 2020

UPDATE: OIG Issues COVID-19 Enforcement Policy Statement 04.08.20 As noted in our recent alert (4.7.20) (see below), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently issued “blanket waivers” concerning several Stark Law requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS enacted the Stark Law Blanket Waivers to ensure the availability of healthcare services for patients during the current public health emergency and to allow healthcare providers to receive payment for certain claims…

Destination: Health Law

The COVID-19 Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and its Effects on Healthcare Providers, Hospitals, and Other Professionals

By Bhavesh Modi, Sarah Churchill Llamas, Corinne Smith & Kevin Wood

March 31, 2020

On March 27, the CARES Act was signed into law by President Trump in an effort to stem the nationwide effects of the COVID-19 emergency crisis. Healthcare providers, in particular, are currently overwhelmed with the surge in COVID-19 cases. Consequently, the CARES Act allocates over $330 billion to the healthcare industry as a temporary economic respite and makes numerous policy changes to provide greater flexibility to healthcare providers as they continue to fight this disease…

Destination: Health Law

CMS Prioritizes Immediate Jeopardy and Infection Control Surveys

By Sarah Churchill Llamas, Corinne Smith, Kevin Wood & Michael Smith

March 26, 2020

On March 23, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that during the next three weeks, State Survey Agency (SSA) and CMS surveyors will only prioritize and conduct surveys related to complaints and facility-reported incidents (FRIs) that are triaged at the Immediate Jeopardy level, in addition to an infection control review using an Infection Control Survey Checklist developed by CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). …

Destination: Health Law

COVID-19 and HIPAA – Law Enforcement, First Responders and Public Health Authorities Can Get PHI

By Bhavesh Modi, Sarah Churchill Llamas, Corinne Smith & Kevin Wood

March 26, 2020

We have already seen extensive regulatory responses to the COVID-19 public health emergency (visit Winstead’s COVID-19 Resource Center for more information). On March 24, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), a department of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued guidance clarifying when entities covered under HIPAA and the Privacy Rule can disclose the protected health information (“PHI”) of patients exposed to COVID-19 to first responders and other individuals.…

Destination: Health Law

COVID-19 Emergency Update: Physicians Can Prescribe Controlled Substances via Telemedicine

By Corinne Smith, Kevin Wood & Sarah Churchill Llamas

March 26, 2020

Under the Ryan Haight Act, healthcare providers must usually conduct an in-person examination before prescribing controlled substances, such as opioids, via the internet (including telehealth or telemedicine). However, as a result of the Public Health Emergency Declaration, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a statement clarifying that—for the duration of the Public Health Emergency—DEA-registered practitioners utilizing telehealth or telemedicine solutions do not need to conduct an in-person examination to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled…

Destination: Health Law

Business Trends, Innovative Technology & Legal Insight

Blog Authors

Considerations for Telehealth Providers When Developing Policies and Procedures for Treating Patients with Behavioral/ Mental Health Warning Signs

HHS Announces COVID Funds for Skilled Nursing Facilities

Governor Abbott Eases Ban on Elective Procedures

WEBINAR – A Look at Some Legal Implications of COVID-19 on Healthcare Real Estate

A Look at Some Legal Implications of COVID-19 on Healthcare Real Estate

CMS Issues COVID-19 Stark Law Blanket Waivers

The COVID-19 Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and its Effects on Healthcare Providers, Hospitals, and Other Professionals

CMS Prioritizes Immediate Jeopardy and Infection Control Surveys

COVID-19 and HIPAA – Law Enforcement, First Responders and Public Health Authorities Can Get PHI

COVID-19 Emergency Update: Physicians Can Prescribe Controlled Substances via Telemedicine

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