Legal Scrubs

The Department of HHS' Office for Civil Rights recently entered into a settlement agreement with a solo physician in private practice in Utah. The gastroenterologist paid a settlement amount to the government of $100,000 to settle alleged and potential HIPAA violations.

This case arose originally out of a business dispute between the doctor and a subcontractor of his EHR company, and it demonstrates the aggressive stance that OCR may be taking with doctors who fail to undertake a risk security analysis or implement a security management plan. Business associate agreements that are tailored to the situation and regular follow-up by the medical practice is essential.

Listen to today's episode of Legal Scrubs to learn at least 5 takeaways from this case that you should implement in your solo or small group practice.

In today's Wall Street Journal, there were two stories about development in the business of medicine that all medical students and primary care doctors need to know about.

One is a development in the bankruptcy case involving Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia and how that bankruptcy affects the residents there and their payment of malpractice insurance premiums.

The other is the trend of health insurance companies like United Healthcare and Aetna getting directly involved in the provision of primary care physician services to patients.

Listen to today's episode of Legal Scrubs to learn more.

Doctors must take special care when negotiating their employment agreements to make sure that they fully understand the provision dealing with tail coverage.

And if possible, doctors should try to have their employers bear the expense of tail coverage.

This podcast discusses the basics of tail coverage and what doctors should consider in their negotiations with their employers.

A recent settlement between the Office for Civil Rights and a university medical center involving the payment of $3 million and the establishment of a corrective action plan following the loss of an unencrypted flash drive and the theft of an unencrypted laptop used by a medical resident highlights a number of important lessons that all private healthcare practices should keep in mind to stay out of HIPAA trouble.

Dentists and their dental practices must use caution when they post on social media or respond to online reviews.

Just this week, the Office for Civil Rights entered into a Resolution Agreement with a dental practice in Dallas arising out of an alleged violation of HIPAA resulting from a response to a patient's online review.

This episode of Legal Scrubs discusses this recent case and provides a handful of important takeaways for dentists and their practices to make sure they don't run afoul of HIPAA.

Branding has become increasingly important to health professionals in private practice. With more and more people turning to social media platforms and the internet to find out about who they're seeking out for healthcare services, doctors and dentists need to take seriously the need to brand their practices and differentiate themselves from other professionals in their markets.

Trademark protection is vital to today's modern healthcare practice, whether you're a doctor, a dentist or a nurse practitioner.

This podcast episode walks you through the necessary steps to get trademark protection for your practice name, logo and taglines.