Joseph P. McMenamin, an experienced health law attorney and former emergency physician, has joined Christian & Barton where he will continue his practice focused on digital health law and distance care matters. His typical representative matters include advising telehealth providers and companies on licensure, the provider-patient relationship, corporate practice issues, scope of practice, online prescribing,...Read More
Christian & Barton health care attorney Jonathan M. Joseph was selected to provide the foreward to a newly-released analysis of health information privacy and breach response requirements for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. “Health Information Privacy & Breach: A 50 State Survey,” was published by the American Health Law Association. As Joseph...Read More
The 2022 Virginia General Assembly considered many health care-related bills during the course of the most recent session. Here are some of the more notable ones that became law July 1, 2022, unless otherwise noted: Changes to Health Record Privacy LawVirginia’s health record privacy law is revised to provide that an authorization for the disclosure...Read More
Two years after enacting the nation’s first COVID-19 safety regulations for employers, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board revoked the standard effective March 23, 2022. The Board adopted the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) recommendation that COVID-19 no longer posed a “grave danger” to employees. For most employers, this means the legal...Read More
The global pandemic created an urgent need to both safely access and deliver health care services. Telemedicine instantly met that need. Although many think of telemedicine services being provided on an outpatient basis during the pandemic, hospitals, especially rural ones, benefited greatly from the expansion of telemedicine services, especially under Medicare. However, Medicare (and accreditation...Read More
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule with comment period (IFR or Rule) effective Nov. 5, 2021 that requires certain Medicare- and/or Medicaid-certified health care providers and suppliers ensure their workers are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022. This includes physicians who practice in such providers. The...Read More
In recent years, balance billing from medical providers has attracted the attention of legislatures at both the state and federal level. On Jan. 1, 2021, Virginia’s balance billing law took effect that barred out-of-network providers from billing patients for emergency services, and barred balance billing for some prescheduled, nonemergency services at hospitals or other health...Read More
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) June 10, 2021 to address the hazard posed to health care workers whose positions expose them to SARS-COVID-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The ETS provides guidelines for how these workplaces can reduce the risk of viral transmission to their employees. This standard applies...Read More
The new HIPAA “Safe Harbor” law H.R. 9898 became law on Jan. 5, 2021. It amended the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH Act”). This new safe harbor requires that, in the case of a data breach investigation, when calculating fines, evaluating audits or reviewing proposed mitigation steps, the Department of...Read More
The Virginia Board of Medicine is the regulatory arm of the Virginia Department of Health Professions and investigates any complaints made against a physician licensed in Virginia. As a physician, if you receive a notice in the mail, an email or call from the Virginia Board of Medicine, this notice must be given priority and...Read More
