health information technology

On May 2, 2023, legislators approved the $229 billion New York State FY 2023-2024 Budget Bill (“the Budget”), which was signed by Governor Hochul on May 3, 2023. Article VII of the Budget touches almost every aspect of the New York healthcare system, including home health, hospitals, laboratories, and reproductive health. It contains wide-ranging provisions that expand access to care, allow clinicians to provide more services, and allocate needed resources to providers. It targets Medicaid in multiple ways, including an extension of the Medicaid Global Cap on system-wide spending growth through FY 2025.[i] Here, we outline some of the key provisions that this Budget contains.Continue Reading New York Enacts Long Negotiated Budget Bill with Sweeping Implications for Health Care

Certain COVID-19 emergency declaration blanket waivers are being phased out by the federal government, and health care providers should take steps to determine whether current arrangements are compliant. As background, in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency CMS previously enacted extensive temporary COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have now determined that various regulatory requirements must be restored in order to protect the health and safety of residents in long-term care facilities.Continue Reading NOTICE TO PROVIDERS: CMS Phasing Out Certain COVID-19 Regulatory Waivers in Long-Term Care Facilities, Hospices, and ESRD Facilities

On March 23, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced settlements with three mobile health application (app) development companies aimed at curbing deceptive marketing practices and inadequate privacy disclosures to consumers. The settlements – reached with Cardiio, Inc., Matis Ltd., and Runtastic GmbH, respectively – target health measurement apps that “purport to measure vital signs or other indicators of health using only a smartphone’s camera and sensors, without any need for an external device.”

The Office of Attorney General (OAG) expressed concern that growing consumer reliance on health-related apps “can be harmful” if the apps provide inaccurate or misleading results because they could cause consumers to potentially forgo necessary medical treatment, or conversely incur unnecessary treatment, in reliance on false assurances of health provided by such apps. In the settlements the OAG highlighted apparent issues it had identified with each of the developers’ apps, including:

  • That both Cardiio and Runtastic created a “net impression” via claims made on their websites and in app store listings that their respective heart rate monitor apps would accurately measure and monitor a consumer’s heart rate “without providing sufficient evidence substantiating” their claims regarding the app’s accuracy; and
  • That Matis made unsubstantiated claims regarding its fetal heartbeat app’s ability to monitor and play the sound of a fetal heartbeat by placing a smartphone on a woman’s stomach.

Continue Reading NY AG Announces Settlements with 3 Mobile-Health App Developers Over Privacy, Marketing Concerns

Massachusetts recently released a final regulation concerning its health information exchange, which became effective February 10, 2017. Under this regulation, Provider Organizations are required to connect to Massachusetts’ statewide health information exchange known as the Mass HIway. Provider Organizations include Massachusetts acute care hospitals, community health centers, and medical ambulatory practices. These regulations continue the push toward increased interoperability of patient medical records across health care providers, in an effort to improve the ability of a provider to see the full medical picture of a patient.

Provider Organizations must connect to the Mass HIway over the course of a four year phased-in timeline. For acute care hospitals, year one begins on February 10, 2017. For all other Provider Organizations except small community health centers, year one begins on January 1, 2018. Small community health centers’ first year begins January 1, 2019. Provider Organizations must “connect” to the Mass HIway during each applicable year as follows:
Continue Reading Massachusetts Issues Mass HIway Regulations