The author is a health law attorney with Kern Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann in Bridgewater, NJ, Lake Success, NY, and Philadelphia.
Viewpoint: Intent not part of healthcare fraud finding
With healthcare fraud now estimated to be a $100-billion-a-year enterprise, the federal government has developed new tools to aggressively pursue fraud.
Q&A: Withholding medical records
Get your questions answered on handling an outstanding account balance.
End-of-life care: Who decides when to pull the plug?
Efforts to thwart the increasing costs of healthcare cannot succeed without addressing the question of how much care to provide the terminally ill.
Q&A: When patients request 'frivolous' letters
Generally, the cost of writing letters is not included as a covered service under managed care contracts.
PHRs can boost efficiency, but also hold malpractice risk
Since personal health records could be the wave of the future, it is important to understand their risks and benefits.
Medicine vs. religion: Your legal obligations
What is your obligation when confronted with parents who are unwilling to accept medical advice in the best interest of their child because of their religious convictions?
Q&A: When colleagues forget to sign patient records
Which is more important: Having a chart co-signed promptly by a physician regardless of whether that doctor is listed as the overseeing physician that day, or leaving it open until the overseeing physician can sign it?
Q&A: When you're accused of overcoding
We have received a letter from an insurance company requesting 25 charts because the company thinks that we may have "overcoded" some patient visits. Do I need legal advice?
Q&A: When legal documents include patient records
Is it ok to include patient records in legal documents?
Is your lawyer on your side?
Malpractice Consult
Subpoenaed? Don't panic