Articles

06.01.11

The Current Regulatory Environment and its Impact on Bank Directors

The regulatory response to negative bank cycles evolve into three distinct phases.First, pessimistic, negative and critical examinations with calls for increased capital and other remedial action. Second, a significant increase in the number of bank closures. Third, litigation against officers and ...


06.01.11

Health IT Moves Forward With Privacy, Consent

The federal government continues to move ahead with implementing various provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This update summarizes significant developments in July and August.Committee OKs Privacy RecommendationsThe Office of the National Coordinator for Health ...


06.01.11

Avoiding Social Networking Land Mines for Employers

In October, Facebook responded to yet another round of questions regarding a recent privacy breach, which resulted in an inquiry by several members of Congress. Congress’ involvement highlights the fact that Facebook and other social media sites are much more than just fun networking tools. ...


06.01.11

Training Your Outside Counsel

Three Rules for Avoiding Problems with Outside Counsel.While your outside counsel may have excelled at everything they have done in life up to representing your company, this does not ensure success in being responsive to your needs. In that regard, here are three rules you might want to ...


03.23.11

A New Fraud and Abuse Paradigm for ACOs: Blurring the Distinction Between Providers and Payers

Congress has enacted a web of fraud and abuse laws designed to check the rapid growth in the cost of federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. These fraud and abuse laws are rooted in the policy concerns raised by the fee-for-service reimbursement system, which has been the ...


02.21.11

Status of California Renewable Policy 2011

As the new year unfolds, California still has many unanswered questions as to how it plans to reach the energy policy goal of procuring 33% of the state’s electricity through renewable resources by 2020. The various state agencies still have a lot of issues to address before one can consider ...


11.01.10

Counting Leases Before They Hatch

A proposed accounting change will dramatically affect how landlords and tenants treat leases. The accounting profession is currently evaluating a proposed new standard that promises to fundamentally change the ways landlords and tenants account for — and negotiate — ...


04.15.10

Provider Participation in ACOs May Hinge on HHS Regulations

The elusive goal of health reform is to create a reimbursement system that incentivizes medical providers to deliver higher quality care at a lower cost. The recently enacted federal health reform legislation does not establish a single mechanism for achieving this goal. Instead, it authorizes a ...


02.01.10

ARRA Money Continues To Flow for Health, Other Projects

Agencies and departments of the federal government are moving forward with implementing various provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This update summarizes significant developments over the past few months in areas including community health, comparative effectiveness ...


01.25.10

'Meaningful Use' Rules Cap Year-End Health IT Activity

With one day to spare, the federal government made its deadline for issuing long-awaited rules that will govern the distribution of more than $44 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentives to hospitals and health care professionals demonstrating "meaningful use" of certified electronic ...