Key Compliance Considerations for Healthcare Providers in the OIG’s 2017 Work Plan

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has oversight of protection of the integrity of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs and operations. The aim of this function is to ensure the wellbeing of American people who benefit from these programs. The OIG seeks to prevent fraud, abuse and waste, identify ways of improving the cost, efficiency and effectiveness of its programs, and to bring to book those who do not comply with its requirements.

Towards ensuring these, the OIG issues its annual Work Plans. These set out the details of the projects that the Office of Audit Services, Office of Evaluation and Inspections, Office of Investigations, and Office of Counsel to the Inspector General address during a fiscal year. Each year’s Work Plan details the projects the OIG has planned in each of the above mentioned Offices’ entities. The Work Plans offer details of information relating to a host of issues about the departments with which the OIG works or coordinates.

The OIG requires compliance and management of enterprise risk by health care organizations and providers that develop and plan their annual compliance audit priorities. They should make sure that their compliance program activities, audits and policies are consistent with the OIG’s annual Work Plan.

What is coming up for Fiscal Year 2017 HHS OIG Work Plan?

A detailed explanation of the OIG’s Fiscal Year 2017 Work Plan will be offered at a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry. Joseph Wolfe, who is an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest health care focused law firm in the country, will be the speaker at this webinar.

Want to know what needs to be understood by those who need to be compliant with the Fiscal Year 2017 HHS OIG Work Plan? Just enroll for this webinar by visiting http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800932LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Joseph_Wolfe/~Untangling_the_OIG’s_2017_Work_Plan:_Key_Compliance_Considerations_for_Health_Care_Providers.

At this webinar, Joseph will focus on an overview of the Work Plan, including the new and ongoing audit areas that the OIG plans to focus on during 2017. This discussion will be of immense value to healthcare professionals such as in-house counsel, healthcare executives, health care Human Resources, and healthcare CFO’s.

He will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Provide a general overview of the 2017 OIG Work Plan
• Summarize ongoing reviews and activities the OIG plans to pursue
• Discuss significant new risk areas that the OIG plans to focus on
• Identify potential action steps that health care organizations and providers can take to manage compliance risk.

Understanding what is permissible and what is not under healthcare anti-fraud statutes

Federal laws such as the Federal False Claims Act, Federal Anti-Kickback and Stark laws are aimed specifically at preventing and curtailing malpractices by healthcare organizations and professionals. They work on this end by placing several prohibitions and restrictions on them. This makes it imperative for those impacted by these laws to be completely aware of what they are allowed to do and what they are not, under these laws.

The authorities come down severely on those who show the slightest noncompliance with the provisions of these statutes. A punitive action from the enforcement authorities of any nature or intensity can adversely impact the most important asset for a healthcare professional or healthcare organization –reputation. So, the task of understanding the intricacies and subtleties of these statutes is left to the healthcare organizations and medical professionals.

It is to equip them with a proper and thorough understanding of the Federal False Claims Act, Federal Anti-Kickback and Stark laws that MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, is organizing a webinar. At this webinar, the speaker, William Mack Copeland, who is a healthcare law practitioner at Copeland Law, LLC in Cincinnati, will give a complete understanding of how marketing activities can invite actions from either or all of these statutes.

Just visit http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800902LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~William%20Mack_Copeland/~Anti-Kickback,_Fraud,_Stark_and_Marketing:_What_You_Can_and_Cannot_Do to enroll for this webinar, at which William, a healthcare law expert, will give an understanding of the building blocks needed to develop and maintain the healthcare organization’s or practitioner’s reputation.

The speaker will help participants to understand and eliminate exposure to fraud charges based on marketing practices. The practical requirements and operations, principles of compliance, and the basic elements needed for reducing civil and criminal liabilities and economic sanctions will be described.

Taking up this webinar will help participants get an understanding of anti-kickback regulations, Stark laws, and compliance issues that expose a healthcare provider or practitioner’s vulnerabilities in marketing. William will show the ways of implementing mandatory internal controls, which go a long way in helping to reduce exposure to risks. The many marketing efforts that expose an organization to various susceptibilities will be taken up as part of a case study discussion.

This session, which will benefit all functional groups that have responsibilities relating to data protection, or marketing, or need to understand the basics of compliance, will cover the following areas:

• The Federal False Claims Act
• Federal Civil Anti-Kickback Statute
• The Federal Anti-Referral Law (Stark 1 & 2)
• Introduction to basic compliance as an effective tool
• Case study about an organization and how their marketing efforts exposed the organization to vulnerabilities

Editing skill for scientific writers

For many professionals, writing skills are learned while they are on the job. In many cases, they would go by a preferred style or other documents or style guides that help to put a certain style in place. Editing, however, is rarely taught. Worse, the perception most people have of editing is that it is revising or rewriting a work. But the truth is different. Editing gives shape to a document. It helps to perfect and sculpt it. The big question most editors face is: Where does one stop editing a document?

An all too common situation most employees find themselves in is when they decide o edit a document one last time after their team has spent hours, weeks, or months producing it. The more one pores over each line and word; the more the opportunities for setting one small part right. This process of finding errors and inconsistencies never seems to end.

The ways of effectively editing scientific documents to give it solid presentation and shape will be the topic of a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

Hope J Lafferty, a board-certified Editor in the Life Sciences who brings more than 20 years’ experience as a science editor, will be the speaker at this webinar. Just visit http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800881LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Hope%20J_Lafferty/~Editing_Your_Own_Work_(after_you’ve_read_it_1000_times)to register for this useful learning session.

Making editing fun

Hope will offer a fun and informative program that helps professionals that write to improve their editing and proofreading skills produce impeccable documents that are error-free and friendlier to read.

All the lessons Hope has learnt during her long career as a science and medical writer and editor will be imparted at this webinar. Hope’s knack of identifying simple solutions to common problems will be in full display at this session. She will equip participants at every level with tools to improve their ability to edit, proofread, and finalize their manuscripts, grants, presentations, and technical documents with greater facility.

Any personnel in the technical areas, such as scientist, researcher, or technical writer, who is required to edit one’s own work; will derive important use from this webinar, which will outline the following:

o  Common problems in writing scientific and technical documents that we need to correct before final approval and submission but that we often overlook

o  Common problems in how we read material that we’ve read and rewritten many times

o  How to approach documents with fresh eyes and spot mistakes with greater speed and accuracy

o  The importance of planning and scheduling an editorial phase to written projects and how to make the most of the time we have.

Hope will cover the following areas at this webinar:

o  Common Writing Mistakes That Are Easy to Miss

o  Common Problems in How We Review Our Work

o  Best Editorial Practices.

Nanotechnology, a part of Quantum Physics (QP), is growing fast and has myriad uses. Nanotechnology is all about size and self-assembly. While QP deals with subatomic particles and waves; Nano relates to the atomic and molecular level. Atomic behavior and properties get dramatically changed at the Nano level. Of note are properties such as color change due to refraction of light. Gold, packaging and chemistry are some of the well-known areas into which nanotechnology is applied and in which it is immensely useful.

The potential to change the nutritive quality of food

Nanotechnology has a significant impact on food. Nanoparticles are used in every aspect of food and food processing. The use of nanotechnology enhances food products and methods of manufacture and improvises quality by helping in better preservation.

Nanotechnology looks likely to impact food behavior in a big way. The interactive food ingredients currently being developed from this technology would allow consumers to choose the color and desired flavor. More importantly, ingested Nano capsules using Nano sensors would inject the body with the exact dosage of the required nutrients, including vitamins, to treat deficiencies.

There are downsides, too

However, there are some downsides which, if left unregulated, could lead to consumer health issues. This will be the core of the topic of a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

Robert J Verdicchio, an industrial scientist and formulator with more than fifty years of experience in the chemical specialties area with a specialization in healthcare and beauty aids, will be the speaker at this webinar. To register for this learning session, please log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800887#26534.

Contaminants can be extracted from the Nano clays used to form enhanced barrier protection, particularly in beverages like beer. The extracted material from container to the beer must be carefully monitored. This is because although alcohol in beer, together with small particle size high extractable zinc oxide is used to protect from UV rays; Nano zinc oxide has been found to cause lung health issues. At this session, Robert will quote many more such examples. The gains far outweigh the risks, provided proper controls are put in place.

Need for regulation

While its uses are many and the technology is growing fast, government regulations have not kept pace with this technology, as a result of which safety guidelines and regulations are still nascent. The FDA currently does not monitor the area but a task force is currently looking into guidelines which should be forthcoming.

This webinar session will discuss all these issues.

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Understanding the New Laws and Qualifications of the Specialty Board Certification

A common qualifying measure of physician ability is the medical specialty board certification. Because the requirements of the board are increasing; the laws that restrict such use are on the rise.

A webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will offer learning on the new laws and qualifications of specialty board certification. Elizabeth A. Snelson, who represents medical staffs across the country, focusing on medical staff bylaws, and who works for medical societies on medical staff issues, will be the speaker at this webinar. To enroll for this webinar, please log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800878LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Elizabeth%20A._Snelson/~Specialty_Board_Certification:_New_Laws_and_Qualifications.

Understanding the changes in and out

This webinar will help participants learn the parameters of federal limitations on board certification. Elizabeth will help them catch up on board certification changes in State law. She will help participants understand the flaws and loopholes that exist in board certification descriptions in the bylaws and other documents. She will also help them understand board certification requirements better to improve recruiting and retention results while meeting accreditation standards and quality goals.

Important personnel in the healthcare space, such as Medical Staff President/Chief of Staff, Bylaws Committee,  Credentialing Committee,  Chief Medical Officer,  Vice President of Medical Affairs, Chief of Staff, Director of Medical Staff, Medical Staff Attorney, Hospital Counsel, Medical Staff Manager, Credentialing Specialist, and Human Resources professionals can gain immensely from this learning session.

Elizabeth will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Requiring Initial Board Certification
• Requiring Recertification
• Maintenance of Certification Controversies
• New Specialty Board Certification Options
• Grandfathering Clauses
• Foreign Boards
• Medicare Limitations on Requiring Board Certification.

Key Legal Considerations when Structuring Physician Employment Agreements

Compliance with the Stark Law has become more than just a compliance issue. It is an Enterprise Risk Management issue, as the substantial awards and settlements in recent enforcement actions indicate. Managing their compliance and enterprise risk by ensuring that their physician employment arrangements are defensible under the Stark Law is now an imperative for medical groups, hospitals, and health systems that seek to switch to more innovative compensation structures.

The ways by which they can do this will be the content of a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

A thorough learning session

Joseph Wolfe, an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest health care focused law firm in the country, will be the speaker at this webinar. To gain the benefit of his knowledge of the Stark Law, please register for this webinar by logging on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800861LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Joseph_Wolfe/~Structuring_Physician_Employment_Agreements:_Key_Legal_Considerations.

Explanation of the Stark Law with its changes for 2016

At this session, Joseph will offer an overview of the Stark Law, along with its 2016 changes. The important element of best practices for negotiating and drafting physician employment agreements on behalf of health systems, hospitals and medical groups will be discussed. He will also explain key provisions and potential pitfalls in both types of agreements.

Key healthcare personnel such as In-House Counsel, Health Care Compliance Officers, Health Care Human Resources, Health Care CFO’s and Health Care executives will derive immense value from this session.

Joseph will cover the following areas at this webinar session:

o  Provide a general Stark Law overview

o  Examine critical components of Stark and Anti-Kickback compliant employment arrangements

o  Discuss best practices for drafting physician employment agreements, related compensation plans and facilitating effective onboarding

o  Discuss best practices for auditing existing employment arrangements

o  Describe alternative structures for organizations intending to qualify as Stark group practices.

An understanding of the EC 1223/2009

The European Cosmetics Products Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 (CPR), which became fully operational from July 2013, is a game changer in many ways, as it is considered a most contemporary regulatory framework concerning state-of-the-art of cosmetic science and product technology.

It sets out vastly harsher conditions for compliance of cosmetic products that are manufactured or sold in the EU, comprising of over half a billion people. The changes suggested by this legislation are of a deep nature and affect many of the manufacturers and suppliers of cosmetic ingredients, who are now requested to provide data on their chemicals.

Provisions of the 1223/2009, which are now formulated as modules; straddle a large area of activities such as:

o  Substance regulations

o  Product information file

o  Labeling

o  Cosmetovigilance

o  Claims

o  Notification

o  Responsible person, etc.

A lot of knowledge relating to know-how, diligence and ongoing adjustment to state-of-the-art knowledge and documentation has to go into meeting compliance with these modules. Any organization in the cosmetics business has to be completely aware of the workings of these regulations if it has to sell its product successfully to the world’s largest cosmetics market.

An understanding of this most important legislation will be the learning a webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will offer. Dr. Annelie Struessmann, who is Technical Director with CONUSBAT, will be the speaker at this webinar. To gain the benefit of her in-depth knowledge of this subject, please register for this event by logging on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800868LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Dr.%20Annelie_Struessmann/~Compliance_with_the_European_Cosmetics_Products_Regulation_(EC)_1223-2009.

The toughest parts of the module

The safety assessment is considered the hardest module of the CPR, requiring as it does extensive skills in various science areas, such as toxicology, chemistry, cosmetology, microbiology, etc., as well as the knowledge in regulatory affairs and compliance management.

The animal testing ban of March 2013 further complicated the EU’s legal provisions. It resulted in the following situations, which went on to further befuddle the regulatory and scientific environment for manufacturers in meeting the compliance needs in general and especially for introducing new ingredients:

–       Sometimes contradictory requirements emanate from different sector legislations or from the requests in various legislative areas worldwide prior to marketing;

–       Validated alternative tests are not available for all toxicological endpoints required to be assessed within the safety assessment and the Cosmetic Product Safety Report.

The modules contained in the 1223/2009 represent the entry requirements for marketing of cosmetic products in the whole of the European Union, inclusive of its Member States’ national legislators. These legislators often either adopt certain of the modules or the structure of the Regulation, in full, of its predecessor legislation, the Cosmetics Directive. This makes the knowledge of how to comply with the 1223/2009 all the more necessary.

Other important provisions

In order to ensure the safety of the ingredients and of the cosmetics products in use of consumers; the 1223/2009 assigns in-market control to EU Member State competent authorities. The flow of information between countries is interlinked by the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP), which is fed with the information by the demand for pre-market notification of cosmetic products and by ongoing cosmetovigilance procedures put in place with the respective provisions in the CPR. While the Responsible Person is assigned the central role in cosmetovigilance; the product labeling provisions guarantees access to manufacturers and Responsible Persons.

Annelie will present and explain the provisions of the 1223/2009 depicted as regulatory modules. Building on this, she will lead participants towards pathways of compliance using practical examples and experiences.

Annelie will cover the following areas at this webinar:

o  Animal Testing Ban

o  Roles & Responsibilities in the Supply Chain

o  Product Information File (PIF)

o  Safety Assessment

o  Criteria for Claims

o  Cosmetovigilance

o  Substance Regulations

o  Product Labeling

o  Borderline Legislation

Understanding how to implement the OSHA’s new rule on silica dust

 

Exposure to silica dust is a serious health hazard for those in construction workers and related jobs. This can result in life long disease or even death due to lung cancer. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a new regulation that deals with what employers need to do in order to prevent and offset the damage caused by extensive exposure to silica.

The new silica rule to the standard, which was announced in March 2016, limits the permissible exposure limit by 50%. The new rule also establishes two different standards for general industry and maritime and for the construction industry each. It caps a limit on the exposure to an eight-hour time-weighted average of 50 mcg of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air.

Learn the ways of getting it right

The ways of implementing this new rule and updating the standard in accordance with it will be the learning a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will be organizing.

Kenneth S. Weinberg, a highly acclaimed consultant in environmental health and safety and the author of several books on the topics of health care safety, OSHA, and Indoor Air Quality, will be the speaker. Just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800891LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Kenneth%20S._Weinberg/~OSHA’s_New_Silica_Regulation to register for this very valuable session.

Understanding who is at risk

At this webinar, which will be highly beneficial to Safety personnel, Occupational Health Personnel, Construction workers, those who work in dusty environments, Supervisors and Managers; Kenneth will discuss the issues relating to the hazards of silica dust exposure, such as who is at risk and why the regulation has changed.

He will also discuss the new requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve compliance, new medical monitoring and record keeping requirements, as well as the methods to achieve the new exposure levels.

Kenneth will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Discussion of the history of Silica Dust Exposure Regulation
• Hazards of silica dust exposure
• Affected Populations
• Reasons for change in regulation
• Methods of compliance and monitoring silica dust exposure
• Conclusion

 

Protecting a business from record breaches resulting from ransomware attacks

 

When HIPAA investigations relating to ransomware breaches find malpractices; it can be total jolt that can absolutely devastate the said practice or business. Discovery of this kind of breach during a HIPAA investigation can cause a major financial burden, apart of course, from severe embarrassment and ignominy.

This means that practices and businesses that are subject to a HIPAA investigation need to get a thorough understanding of whether their systems are at risk for ransomware or other very dangerous breaches, and of ways of dealing with them. The severity of a ransomware breach should never be underestimated, as it is the #1 risk for massive breach in the United States.

What needs to be done?

If a practice or business needs to insulate itself from appropriating of its electronic records, both foreign and domestic, it needs to take a few very important steps. What are these steps, and how does a practice or business do it? These constitute the learning a webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for all the areas of regulatory compliance, will be organizing.

Brian L Tuttle, who is a Certified Professional in Health IT (CPHIT), Certified HIPAA Professional (CHP) and Certified Business Resilience Auditor (CBRA) with over 15 years’ experience in Health IT and Compliance Consulting, will be the speaker at this webinar. To gain the benefit of this learning, register by just logging on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800873LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Brian_Tuttle/~Ransomware_and_HIPAA_Risks_-_BE_VERY_CAREFUL_HERE.

Brian will explain the practical and proven ways by which practices and businesses that are subject to HIPAA investigations can protect themselves from ransomware attacks and breaches.

Understanding the risk factors

He will also explain what the highest risk factors for being sued for wrongful disclosures of PHI are, and the manner in which patients are now using state laws to sue for wrongful disclosures. Brian will be quoting real life examples and will share his vast experience of dealing with situations that could cause a business or practice to go haywire.

Brian will offer specific information about multiple incidents, which will help practices and businesses understand what they did wrong that led to a bad situation. In addition to an explanation of the variables that need to be considered; he will also discuss specific questions the Office of Civil Rights investigators and FBI are likely ask and how best to answer. In all, this is a very valuable session at which the speaker will educate participants on the ways of preventing a breach altogether.

Brian will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• What is ransomware?
• What are risk factors?
• What to do if hijacked
• Audit Process
• What can cause an audit
• How to avoid these issues altogether
• What to do in the event of an audit
• How to speak and deal with Federal auditors
• Risk Assessment
• Best resources

 

Getting the CMS’ Quality Payment Program right

 

The various programs of the CMS, such as Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation need to be given close attention if these programs have to be properly implemented. Healthcare professionals have to pay thorough and full attention to the structure and program-specific details.

This is the right time to start preparing, because the first performance year for these programs begins on January 1, 2017 and payment adjustments will follow in 2019 (i.e., the 2019 bonus/penalty adjustments will be based on the 2017 performance metrics). Given the paucity of time for this kind of huge preparation, it is necessary to get trained professionally to take on the challenges associated with these endeavors.

An understanding of the program is necessary

To help with this, MentorHealth, a notable provider of professional trainings in the areas of healthcare; will be organizing a learning session that will dispel all the misconceptions and misunderstandings of how to get the implementation of these programs right. Joseph Wolfe, who is an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest health care focused law firm in the country, will be the speaker at this webinar.

To get complete clarity on how to get the provisions of the CMS programs such as Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation bang on target, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800860LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Joseph_Wolfe/~From_Volume_to_Value:_An_Overview_of_MACRA,_MIPS,_APMs_and_the_New_CMS_Quality_Payment_Program.

Discussing the Proposed Rule threadbare

In this session, Joseph will highlight the key components of the Proposed Rule. He will offer a complete overview of the CMS’ new Quality Payment Program. He will clarify on all the grey areas of these programs with a lucid and practical explanation of key MACRA provisions and the Quality Payment Program, including the timing and features of new MIPS and APM incentive implementation.

Those who want to offer their comments to CMS on the Proposed Rule, which is open until June 27, 2016, will find this webinar extremely beneficial. It is of total value to healthcare professionals such as In-House Counsel, healthcare Executives, healthcare Human Resources, healthcare CFO’s, and other healthcare leaders.

The following areas will be covered at this webinar:

 

• A general overview of MACRA and the CMS Quality Payment Program
• Consolidation of PQRS, the Physician Value- based Payment Modifier, and the Medicare EHR Incentive Program into MIPS
• Description of the incentives for participation in certain alternative payment models (APMs)
• Discussion of the CMS’s Quality Measure Development Plan for the Quality Payment Program transition

 

 

MIPS and the New Medicare Quality Payment Program that healthcare providers need to be aware

Healthcare providers have to pay close attention to the structure and program-specific details on CMS’s Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation. Since the first performance year for these programs begins on January 1, 2017 and payment adjustments will follow in 2019 (as the 2019 bonus/penalty adjustments will be based on the 2017 performance metrics); now is the time for healthcare providers to begin preparing.

MentorHealth, an acclaimed provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will offer complete guidance on the ways of doing this. Joseph Wolfe, who is an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest health care focused law firm in the country, will offer insights on these areas, from which In-House Counsel, Health Care Executives, Health Care Human Resources and Healthcare CFO’s can gain tremendously.

Just visit http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800885LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Joseph_Wolfe/~What_Health_Care_Providers_Need_to_Know_Now_about_the_Merit-based_Incentive_Payment_System_(%22MIPS%22)_and_the_New_Medicare_Quality_Payment_Program to enroll for this meaningful and useful session.

Key components of the Proposed Rule

At this webinar, Joseph will explain the key components of the Proposed Rule and familiarize participants with them. He will also offer an overview of CMS’s new Quality Payment Program. All the other important components of the key MACRA provisions and the Quality Payment Program, including the timing and features of new MIPS and APM incentive implementation, will be explained in a lucid manner.

Joseph will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Provide a general overview of MACRA and the CMS Quality Payment Program.
• Discuss the consolidation of PQRS, the Physician Value- based Payment Modifier, and the Medicare EHR Incentive Program into MIPS.
• Describe incentives for participation in certain alternative payment models (APMs)
• Discuss CMS’s Quality Measure Development Plan for the Quality Payment Program transition.

Should a retirement age be fixed for physicians?

 

One of the major differences between the medical profession and most others is that the former does not have a retirement age. While this has become the practice for this profession, it leads to many questions for those in the healthcare industry, such as:

• Are aging physicians able to serve their professions well?
• Can an aging physician community ensure patient safety and at the same time fill shortage in the profession it serves?
• Should physicians too have a retirement age?
• Can medical staffs and hospitals place restrictions on physicians based on age, and should hospitals and medical staffs place restrictions on physicians based on age?
• Can physicians sue, alleging discrimination and civil rights violations?

These are some of the critical questions facing the medical profession today.

Placing the issue in the right perspective

A webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will offer insights to these questions. Elizabeth A. Snelson, who represents medical staffs across the country, focusing on medical staff bylaws, and works for medical societies on medical staff issues, will be the speaker at this webinar. To enroll for this webinar, please log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800877LIVE/.

Elizabeth will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Age Restrictions on Medical Staff membership and clinical privileges
• State Laws affecting physician age restrictions
• Federal laws affecting physician age restrictions
• Accreditation requirements related to age-based credentialing
• Implementation of age-based screening
• Eligibility for peer review protection

This learning session will be of value to important personnel in the healthcare industry, such as Medical Staff President/Chief of Staff, those in Bylaws Committees or Credentialing Committees, Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Medical Affairs,    Chief of Staff, Director of Medical Staff, Medical Staff Attorney, Hospital Counsel, Medical Staff Manager, Credentialing Specialist and Human Resources professionals.

Fine-tuning biomedical writing brings a number of benefits

A very big misconception in the field of medicine is that biomedical writing is highly technical and replete with jargon, and therefore not creative. There is enough scope in biomedical writing for creativity and the use of artistic and imaginative words without compromising on the meaning or import of the words. In fact, resorting to the use of imaginative words makes biomedical writing more interesting and illustrative, making the work compelling to read, offering a number of tangible benefits to the researcher.

MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will be offering valuable guidance on the inventive aspect of biomedical writing at a webinar.

Hope J Lafferty, a board-certified Editor in the Life Sciences who brings more than 20 years’ experience as a science editor, will be the speaker at this webinar. To enroll for this webinar, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800880LIVE/.

Write better to get better results

Hope will offer a fun and informative way of helping biomedical writers and researchers at all levels improve their writing, which will help them gain better results at a variety of activities such as funding their research, publishing the results, and ultimately even aiding in developing and providing innovative treatment options for patients.

This webinar will outline common mistakes and identifying simple solutions, which will serve as tools for early career scientists and medical researchers to improve their ability to write, edit, and organize their manuscripts, grants, and presentations, and ultimately increase their academic and research productivity.

Remove doubts, gain clarity

The aim of this webinar is to help medical researchers that write to publish and to win grants. It will help MDs, PhDs, early career researchers, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, statisticians and Department Chairs remove the various impediments to their writing and raise their ability to publish their research, receive funding for their work, and pursue the ambition of carving out a career in research.

It will help them finesse their writing skills, which may have become a hurdle to the advancement of their careers. The speaker will remove the important negative quality of loss of confidence that many researchers go through when their research gets rejected to their poor writing skills.

Helpful in a number of ways

This webinar will equip researchers with the most contemporary practices in medical and science writing. Hope will help participants in a number of ways, such as:

• Using contemporary terms that do away with the outmoded, complex and incomprehensive jargon that characterize the heavy text that scientists and physicians use
• Implementing useful and immediately applicable solutions after counting down each mistake, which will help writers and researchers view their own writing in objective ways
• Explaining the importance of word choice to break the monotony of repetition and make the content more compelling
• Exploring ways by which to convey one’s argument by gaining a better understanding of the phrases and modifying and structuring them make them more comprehensible
• Understanding the how and why of biomedical writing in this age where research has become truly global
• Demystifying the writing process, enabling audiences to understand how to prepare, where to start, and when to revise

Hope will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Contemporary Usage & Word Choice
• Sentence Structure
• The Writing Process

 

Adherence to the Anti-Kickback and Stark Law is more than just a compliance issue

The Anti-Kickback and Stark Law is a vital Act for healthcare practitioners, and it includes several changes for 2016.

Is the implementation of the Stark Law important? It is much more than being just important. It is critical. The reason for this is that lack of proper implementation of this law in its entirety attracts substantial awards and settlements, as recent enforcement actions have shown. If the scale and magnitude of these awards and settlements are any indication, proper adherence to the Stark Law is now no longer only a compliance issue; it is an enterprise risk management issue.

Goes beyond being only a compliance issue

Health systems, hospitals, and medical groups that make meaningful transitions to more innovative compensation arrangements have to manage their compliance and enterprise risk if they have to show compliance with the Stark Law and yet remain profitable. The way to do this is by ensuring that their medical director and administrative arrangements are defensible under the Stark Law.

The ways by which these providers can ensure all this will be the teaching imparted at a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry. To enroll for this webinar, just visit http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800859LIVE/ .

Joseph Wolfe, an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest healthcare-focused law firm in the country, and who also provides advice and counsel to some of the nation’s largest health systems, hospitals and medical groups on a variety of health care issues; will be the speaker at this webinar.

What should be included and should not be

In addition to the changes that Stark Law will bring for 2016; Joseph will also discuss best practices for negotiating and drafting medical director arrangements on behalf of health systems, hospitals and medical groups. He will illuminate the key provisions that should be included and potential pitfalls that should be avoided.

Leading decision makers and executives in the healthcare industry, such as in-house counsel, healthcare compliance officers, healthcare human resources and healthcare CFO’s will benefit immensely from this highly valuable learning session.

Joseph will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Provide a general Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute overview.
• Examine critical components of Stark and Anti-Kickback compliant medical director arrangements
• Discuss best practices for drafting medical director agreements and the related compensation plans
• Review processes for documenting medical director duties and service hours
• Review processes for documenting fair market value and commercial reasonableness
• Discuss best practices for auditing existing medical director arrangements and potential pitfalls

 

 

Preparing for a HIPAA audit

Mobile app for health

An organization that needs to be HIPAA compliant has to not only ensure that it provides the appropriate patient rights and controls on its uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI); it has to also have the proper policies and procedures in place. Any organization that is the subject of a compliance review or is being audited has to demonstrate to the government that it has both the documentation necessary for safeguarding patient PHI, as well as the ability to show how it is addressing all of the required security safeguards.

 

 

Steep increase in number of HIPAA data breaches

A full understanding of the requirements of a compliance program has become all the more important in the background of an increase in HIPAA enforcement and with Phase 2 audits, about which Covered Entities and Business Associates that are going to get audited will be notified soon, getting underway. That the American Congress has taken serious note of the fact that a whopping 120 million individuals had their HIPAA data breached in 2015 points to the added urgency and importance of implementing a proper risk assessment plan that ensures sufficient safeguards for the data contained in the PHI.

If an organization has to put all of the required documentation aspects together in place; it needs to have a very good understanding of the ways of putting in place a HIPAA compliance program with which to ensure that the current program is adequate and can withstand government scrutiny. They ways by which an organization can do all these will be the topic of a webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry. To enroll for this webinar, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800838.

Jay Hodes, who is President and Founder, Colington Security Consulting, LLC, will be the Director at this seminar. He will take participants through a full tour of the subtleties of HIPAA compliance that an organization needs to understand if it has to get through HIPAA compliance without hassles.

Jay will equip the participants with a thorough understanding of all the requirements needed for a comprehensive HIPAA compliance program and explain what steps need to be taken to mitigate risk. He will cover the following areas at this discussion:

• Why was HIPAA created?
• What are the HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules?
• What is a HIPAA Risk Management Plan?
• What is meant by “Required” and “Addressable” Implementation Specifications?
• What are Administrative, Technical, and Physical Safeguards Requirements?
• What is a HIPAA Risk Assessment?
• What are HIPAA training requirements?
• What is a HIPAA data breach and what happens if it occurs?
• What are the penalties and fines for non-compliance and how to avoid them?
• Preparing for a HIPAA Audit
• Creating a Culture of Compliance
• Questions

 

Healthcare computer systems implementation involves choosing the right method

Healthcare computer systems implementation can be anything from a headache to nightmare, given its complexity. Things can go wrong at any stage and for any reason. Getting the computer systems right or implementing the right one involves investment of considerable time and money from all kinds of healthcare organizations, big or small.

Fortunately, many of these problems can be avoided by choosing the right tools and processes. Using the right tools and processes will help the organization lubricate and smoothen its systems, while choosing the wrong one or implementing a computer system wrongly can take the organization towards near disaster, throwing the whole range of systems and networks into disarray.

It is all about choosing the right tools and processes

How does a healthcare organization access or adapt the right tools and processes that will help them implement the right computer system? The ways of doing this will be the learning at a webinar that MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings in the healthcare arena, will be organizing. To enroll for this webinar, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800848/.

At this webinar, Jim Wener, a highly experienced and respected automation expert for the healthcare sector, who has spent over four decades in the healthcare field, will explain the best methods of implementing healthcare computer systems that can be adapted for helping to deliver better healthcare outcomes.

Step-by-step approach

Jim will impart the ways of choosing and implementing tools and processes that have been the result of his over forty years in the industry. The main areas on which he will focus include the steps needed for implementing the right computer systems.

He will arm them with an understanding of the logic behind these steps. Firstly, the healthcare provider should lay out expectations of the outcome of the implementation. It should then work on a plan for implementation. A project-like approach of ensuring implementation will then be discussed.

Care should be taken while signing the Electronic Health Record license agreement

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) license agreement is the core document for physician practices that have just entered the EHR arena, as well as for practices that transition to a new EHR software package.

The license agreement should ideally state and clear issues such as:

• Whether and how often the vendor may make online portions of the software unavailable for maintenance or other issues
• How many people may use the software and on how many machines the software may be installed, if it has an offline component
• The kind of technical support the vendor will provide
• Whether the vendor will use data entered by the practice for its own purposes, and if yes, under what conditions
• Terms under which the agreement may be terminated, and
• What happens to the practice’s data upon termination

Since these are extremely important elements of the physician practice’s relationship with the EHR; the practice has to take total care to understand exactly what it is signing. The physician practice has to steer clear of the pressures that vendor sales personnel may put on them to get the EHR implemented quickly.

Take all aspects into consideration

The physician practice should consider crucial aspects before inking the agreement. Some of these include: Does the license agreement require a specific person at the practice as the primary contact with the vendor? If so, what happens if that person is out sick or on vacation, or quits or is fired? What happens if the software operates as specified, but the physician practice wants to switch to a different vendor’s software? Does the license let physician practice terminate at will, or only under certain circumstances? What happens to its data after termination and when will it be got back, and in what form?

A highly pertinent learning session that gives thorough understanding of these aspects of the EHR license agreement and illustrates and highlights common terms and concerns is being organized by MentorHealth, a well-known provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

Daniel F. Shay, an attorney with Alice G. Gosfield and Associates, P.C., who specializes in health law and health care regulation practice, will be the speaker at this highly valuable webinar. In order to enroll for this webinar, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800844LIVE/.

Look at the subtle and intricate aspects of the license agreement

Shay will offer practical considerations for physician practices in reviewing EHR license agreements. He will also touch upon topics such as compliance with Meaningful Use. Apart from the types of documents that are often incorporated into the license agreement; the speaker will also address what physician practices can expect in the negotiation process after the license agreement has been reviewed.

Shay will cover the following areas at this session:

• Common contractual terms in EHR software license agreements
• Grounds for termination of a license
• Common documents incorporated into the license
• Meaningful Use considerations
• Post-termination data control and conversion.

 

Conducting clinical trials effectively requires project management skills

Medicine doctor working with modern computer interface as concept

By their nature, clinical trials are at times large complex projects that take years to complete. They involve many different resources, and are covered by extensive federal regulations. Regulations have been enacted with the purpose of documenting the efficacy of the treatment, as well as to ensure the wellbeing and safety of the patient.

Given the complexity and length of a clinical study, as well as its importance; it is necessary for clinicians to properly plan the whole exercise. This plan should ensure that the clinical study judiciously utilizes all of the resources allocated for it, that the trial sticks to schedule at every stage, and that it does not overshoot the budget, while making sure that the safety and efficacy of the patient is not compromised upon.

Has elements in common with project management

In other words, planning for a clinical trial is akin to managing a project. A clinical trial has to be planned like any other project, taking into account all the variables and other inputs, as well as the desired result in mind. Utmost care has to be taken to make sure that regulatory requirements are complied with, and the quality and integrity of the information arising from the trial are trustworthy.

The way of planning project management in clinical trial will be the topic of a webinar that the well-known provider of professional trainings for all the areas of healthcare, MentorHealth, will be organizing. This webinar will be highly useful for professionals in the clinical trial arena, such as clinical staff, monitors, QA, laboratory staffs, CRO staffs, and some patients.

To participate in this webinar and derive the full benefits of project management in clinical trials, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800863LIVE/.

Linking project management with clinical trials

The speaker at this webinar is Richard Chamberlain, who provides executive consulting services to numerous pharmaceutical, biotechnical, medical device companies, and international Contract Research Organizations in the areas of strategic planning project management for the development of computerized project management tools and Computer Systems Validation.

The core learning at this webinar will be focused on:

• What is Project Management?
• What are Clinical Trials?
• How do I apply the Project Management tools to Manage Clinical Trials?

Richard will cover the following areas during this session:

• Planning for a Project (Study)
• Estimating time and resources
• Lists of Deliverables
• Documenting Dependencies
• Budget Preparation
• Steps in a Clinical Trial
• Phase I to Phase IV, Phase 0 and 5 Clinical Trials
• Managing the Trials

 

Making Collections and Appeals easier

 

Collections and Appeals for past due amounts can be difficult in any industry; adding the Medical Billing office element to it complicates it further. With this, one has the share of cost for patients, Medicare rules and Regulations, Private Payor contracts, and Collectors without experience in medical terminology needed for successful claims appeals to deal with.

Collections and Appeals in the medical billing office can be successful only when one has the right tools, the medical terminology “billing lingo” and the paper correspondence necessary to collect every dollar owed to one’s office. All this forms an important aspect of the Central Billing Office, at which one needs to be successful, free of any doubt and confusion. Once this is done, the Biller and Collector’s job description will acquire a new meaning and get elevated to a whole new level of professionalism, adding immense value and making their practice exceptional.

Learn the ways of getting collections and appeals right

The ways of doing this will be the learning that a webinar from MentorHealth, a highly regarded provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will impart. You can enroll for this webinar by logging on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800850LIVE/.

Terry Fletcher, who is a Specialty Coding Industry Expert, Auditor and Educator; will be the speaker at this highly interesting learning session. At this session, Terry will not only give make participants familiar with the tools needed for this learning, but will also give a chapter-verse explanation for some of the more challenging issues when it comes to collecting share of cost dollars from patients.

Helping to understand the major aspects of Collections and Appeals

Terry will also help participants understand how to know if they have the legal right to waive any out of pocket. She will also address the issue of “Professional Courtesy” and the legal and compliance questions that go with the way to handle deprived patients. Apart from this, Terry will look at the specifics of specialty medical office coding denials with actual cases and solutions.

She will give to the participants material that will be of value to them once they finish the webinar and start implementing the learning gained in it, in their work. Collection letters for insurance and private patient situations will be part of the materials given.

Terry will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Patient Intake- The important information
• Professional Courtesy Addressed
• Patient Collections: Getting the Share of Cost from the patient
• Insurance Collections: Specifics for that medical specialty office
• Appealing Cardiac Cath with PCI denials
• Appealing Multiple Endoscopy codes performed on same day -that get denials
• Collecting on past due claims- how to avoid collection companies
• The appeals process for E/M and procedures on the same date that get denied
• Multiple Orthopedic surgery procedural denials > how to appeal
• PV, General Surgery and more….

Transitioning to a career in biopharmaceuticals requires skillset upgradation

Of late, there has been an explosion in the field of biopharmaceuticals in activities ranging from development to manufacture. Although this augurs well for the industry; there are concerns, nevertheless.

These concerns relate mainly to the inadequacy of the skillsets needed for this industry. There is a widespread feeling in the industry circles that the existing or potential skillsets may not be sufficient for coping with the huge demand the industry is creating.

Need to understand the technologies

If professionals who are rooted in relatively more traditional areas seek to explore the opportunities that exist in biopharmaceuticals; they need to develop awareness of this field and become more familiar with the elements of this profession. This is the basis to making the transition to the new career in biopharmaceuticals smooth and painless.

Want to see how this can be done? Are you interested in phasing out to a career in biopharmaceuticals and assess what it takes to make a mark here? Then, a webinar being organized by MentorHealth, a popular provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, has the answers you are looking for. To enroll for this important learning, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800842LIVE/.

The speaker at this session is Prof. Patrick Crowley, who has played significant technical and management roles in the development to commercialization of over 20 novel medicinal products and Product Line Extensions during a 38-year career in the pharmaceutical industry. He holds many patents for a number of dosage form design and drug delivery inventions.

Like and unlike

At this webinar, Prof. Crowley will elucidate the areas in which there are similarities and dissimilarities between the traditional areas and biopharmaceuticals. While the basic principles of dosage form design, manufacture and material and product control and analysis are fundamentally the same as for conventional small molecules; there are differences between the techniques, processes and associated technologies.

These and other areas of significance will be highlighted at this webinar. Prof. Crowley will cover the following areas at this session:

• Historical Background to Medicinal Agents
• Properties of Biopharm Drugs
• Formulation of Biopharmaceutical Products
• Analytical Methods
• Stability and Quality Assurance/Retention
• Manufacture (material and Dosage Form)
• Control/Assurance of Quality
• Administration (Delivery)