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McBrayer Blogs
Healthcare Practitioners – Three Ways to Use KASPER to Protect Your Practice
Prevention and compliance best practices for healthcare providers are a hot topic, and this isn’t likely to change, maybe ever. As the opioid crisis continues to grow and healthcare providers come under increasing scrutiny, one tool is emerging as a resource for prescribing providers, and it’s probably not what you would expect: KASPER, Kentucky’s prescription reporting database. Below are three ways to get the most out of KASPER to keep your practice in compliance. More >
With Great Power, Comes Great Liability?
As medical advancements and patients in need of medical care continue to increase, the role of mid-level practitioners becomes even more crucial. While there have been many turns of phrase for these medical professionals, the term “mid-level practitioner” is meant to encompass those non-physician providers, which include advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, among others. In Kentucky, there has been a shortage of primary care providers, which is particularly problematic in the state’s many rural areas. This in turn has led to the push for more autonomy to these integral medical providers. While there are many reasons why this development is an improvement for patients and providers alike, this also leads to more liability exposure. More >
Expanded Certificate of Need Exemptions Poised to Grow Healthcare Industry
In recent months, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has begun to amend the Kentucky Administrative Regulations and the Kentucky Revised Statutes, aiming to deregulate certain healthcare facilities and services to promote growth and expansion of healthcare services to Kentuckians. Kentucky’s ability to regulate the growth of its healthcare industry is based, in part, on the State Health Plan, the Certificate of Need (CON) process and the licensure of healthcare entities through the Office of Inspector General. As a Certificate of Need state, Kentucky-based healthcare providers who wish to initiate or expand healthcare services generally must go through a lengthy and expensive process unless they meet one of the few available exemptions. For years, Kentucky excluded certain physician-owned healthcare entities from both the Certificate of Need process and licensure through a series of strict guidelines established by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services known as the “physician office exemption.” More >
New Kentucky Law Provides More Access to Telehealth
Thanks to recently passed legislation going into effect July 1, 2019, Kentucky providers will have more access to patients via telehealth. Previously, telehealth visits were limited to doctors and high-level practitioners, with patients required to be in a clinical setting for the visit. The new law will allow commercial insurance and Medicaid to pay for telehealth visits in the home as well as pay mid-level providers for telehealth visits. More >
Healthcare Entities: How is Your Cyber Security?
In an evolving world of cyber terrorism where individuals such as Edward Snowden grab headlines by stealing national secrets, it should come as no surprise that protected healthcare information (“PHI”) kept by providers has become a “target rich environment” for foreign governments and individual hackers alike. In addition to threats from outside entities, healthcare providers must also realize and appreciate that state and federal regulatory and statutory requirements govern the creation, maintenance and protection of PHI, including through but not limited to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act. Failure to abide by these complex and stringent rules can lead to significant penalties. More >
Compliance: Include Prescribing Practices!
Since the implementation of House Bill 1 in 2012, the restrictions on prescribing controlled substances have become more and more stringent, which is a response to the opioid epidemic sweeping Kentucky and the nation. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, the Kentucky Board of Nursing, and the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy are vigilant in policing prescribing practices and have tools through KASPER to closely monitor the prescribing practices of physicians and other practitioners. With the addition of new medications like Gabapentin to the controlled substances hit list, practitioners must be particularly careful to ensure that their prescribing is consistent with regulatory requirements, particularly when patients have been on this medication previously. Physicians and practitioners must continually monitor compliance as even a minor violation can give rise to investigations, complaints and regulatory penalties. Assessment of regulatory penalties, even when characterized as “Agreed Orders,” can have devastating consequences for physicians and practitioners’ practices and ability to maintain provider contracts, including Medicare and Medicaid. More >
Kentucky Supreme Court Addresses Negligent Credentialing
2017 has been a banner year for developments in healthcare litigation in Kentucky. While the focus has largely been on medical review panels, another issue of importance has been that of negligent credentialing claims brought against hospitals. Nationwide, states have been split on whether this cause of action is recognized. Lost in the recent rulings regarding medical review panels was the Kentucky Supreme Court’s quiet release of its opinion on November 2, 2017 striking down negligent credentialing as a separate and new cause of action against hospitals. This opinion provides clarity for hospitals facing claims of negligence related to physicians with staff privileges at their facilities and also provides guidance for counsel to properly defend cases with credentialing allegations. More >
2017 Legislation Muddies the Water for Kentucky Physicians and Providers
Kentucky’s 2017 legislative session has been described as the most productive regular session in modern history by Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer. Over a hundred bills during the session addressed healthcare-related issues reflecting the priorities of Republican Leadership and its initiative to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). While many bills failed to gain traction, several important new laws were enacted that not only require Kentucky physicians and providers to change their practices, but also offer possible protection from lawsuits. The following is a review of some of the most important new legislation resulting from the 2017 session. More >
CMS Executes About-Face on Pre-Dispute Arbitration Ban
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule on June 5, 2017, that serves as an effective course reversal on pre-dispute arbitration agreements in a long-term care (“LTC”) setting. This caps off an effort by many in the healthcare and nursing home industry to stop the prior rule, which banned such agreements, from taking effect. More >
Compliance Programs for Nursing Facility Providers
Nursing facilities are now required to develop and implement effective compliance and ethics programs under newly-created Section 483.85 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) §6102. These programs must be in effect by November 28, 2017. These regulatory requirements are highly complex, especially the requirement of annual review and revision of the programs. More >
