Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Regulatory Developments
Medicare Providers' Progress with HIPAA: Good or Bad?
Are Medicare Part A providers meeting standards imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)? On May 2003, the Office of Evaluations and Inspections (OEI), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a report about the progress made by Medicare Part A providers in meeting various standards imposed by HHS as part of HIPPA implementation. See HIPAA Readiness: Administrative Simplification for Medicare Part A Providers (OEI-09-02-00421). As explained in the report, this study was conducted 'to determine if Medicare Part A providers expect to comply with the electronic data transaction standards and code sets mandated by ' [HIPAA] by October 2003. HIPAA Readiness ' Executive Summary, at 1. As part of its obligations under HIPAA, HHS promulgated regulations requiring that specific standards be used for eight different types of electronic transactions and medical code sets by October 16, 2003. See 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 162. The eight types of electronic transactions are:
- Health care claims or equivalent encounter information;
- Health care payments and remittance advice;
- Coordination of benefits;
- Health care claim status;
- Enrollment and disenrollment in a health plan;
- Eligibility for a health plan;
- Health plan premium payments; and
- Referral certification and authorization.
To determine how many providers expect to be ready to comply with this deadline, the OEI evaluated the results of a mail survey of a stratified random sample of Medicare Part A providers that submitted claims to Medicare fiscal intermediaries between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002. Id. The results from this sample are promising: Ninety-two percent of Part A providers report having made significant progress in meeting the HIPAA deadline, while another one-half are developing sequencing strategies and contingency plans in the event their system is not fully in compliance with the deadline. Id. at 1-2. The report can be obtained from the OIG's Web site, www.oig.hhs.gov/
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Bit Parts
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.