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Everything you need to know about BMD and the industry.

Another Transparency Obligation: The FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements

Many physician practices and healthcare businesses are facing a new set of federal transparency requirements that require action now. The U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements (the “Rule”), which was promulgated pursuant to the 2021 bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act, is intended to help curb illegal finance and other impermissible activity in the United States.

Ohio Board of Pharmacy COVID-19 Waiver Update

The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has issued waivers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to aid licensed practitioners in their day-to-day operations. As the pandemic has continued over the years, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has intermittently reviewed the various waivers. Effective August 10, 2022, some of those waivers that were once granted have been rescinded.

HIPAA and Cybersecurity 10 Steps You Should Take Now To Protect Your Organization

Kate Hickner sits down with Andy Jones, Brandon Pauley, and Kyle Johnson to discuss recent developments in cybersecurity and today's threat environment. Kate shares with us the HIPAA privacy tips, Andy Jones discusses the security considerations from an expert, Brandon Pauley shares with us incident response from a legal perspective, and Kyle Johnson shares with us, post-incident litigation. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more!

Seed and Early Stage Capital: Do's and Don'ts for Physician Entrepreneurs (from a legal perspective)

Kate Hickner, sits down with partner, Kevin Saunders, a transactional attorney in our Cleveland office. Kate and Kevin talk about various topics like the BMD Ventures group which is designed to ignite growth for the Midwest’s venture capital ecosystem. The Ventures team provides promising, early-stage companies and founders with sophisticated, cost-effective and timely legal advisory and document preparation services plus the benefit of forging strategic business and capital connections. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more!

Buying or Selling a Physician Practice: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Kate Hickner sits down with Jerry Kelsheimer, who serves as President at Medic Management Group, where he oversees the executive team, daily company orientations, and overarching business strategy. They discussed many topics like Reasons for Consolidation, a Checklist of Legal Considerations, Five Tips for buying or selling a Practice, and many more. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more!

Healthcare Industry Business Development: Insights from a Legal and Marketing Perspective

Kate Hickner sits down with Jennifer Malcolm, who is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur who is passionate about showcasing organization’s stories through multi-creative measures. Jennifer works locally, nationally, and internationally. Some main topics in the Healthcare Marketing: Legal Considerations covered in this webinar are as follows: Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (EKRA), Free-Splitting, Licensure, and Other State Requirements, Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) Law, and HIPAA. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more!

Hot Topics in Physician Employment Agreements

Our very own, Kate Hickner, sits down with Ronnen Isakov, who is the Managing Director of the Healthcare Advisory Group at Medic Management Group with more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. During this webinar, they discuss various topics like The Big 3, Fair Market Value, Challenges in Industry-wide Healthcare Dynamics, and many more topics. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more!

Ohio Hospitals and Healthcare Clinics: It’s Time to Revisit Your Billing and Collection Practices

According to a recent Cuyahoga County case, certain healthcare entities may not be protected from liability when engaging in unfair or deceptive billing acts. This decision is consistent with the growing trend across the country to encourage price transparency and eliminate unfair surprise billing practices by health care organizations. Now is the time for hospitals and other health care organizations to revisit their billing and collection policies and procedures to confirm that they are legally defensible and consistent with best practices.

HIPAA Business Associate Agreements: Why These Contracts Matter

No one loves drafting, reading or negotiating HIPAA Business Associate Agreements (BAAs). Yet many of us need to do so, and some of us do so daily. They are often boring, dense and technical, but BAAs are important from both a legal and a business perspective, and they deserve our attention. Failure to enter a BAA when one is required can constitute a HIPAA violation that results in substantial liability, as demonstrated by certain recent Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) settlements.1 A business associate who makes a disclosure that is not authorized by the applicable BAA or required by law can be subject to civil and, in some cases, criminal penalties. Further, parties are often presented with BAAs that contain onerous one-sided indemnification and other provisions that can be devasting to an organization in the event of a HIPAA breach. The significance of a BAA is often not fully understood by the parties until something goes wrong (e.g., a HIPAA security incident or breach, an Office of Civil Rights (OCR) audit or a fracture in the relationship between the parties) and, at that point, there is limited opportunity to mitigate legal and business risk. Ideally, attention should be given at the commencement of the business associate relationship, when the parties are able, to thoughtfully addressing regulatory requirements, planning and preparing for potential adverse events and appropriately allocating risk among the parties. As with most healthcare regulatory compliance initiatives, a proactive approach with respect to BAAs is preferable. This article provides a broad overview of certain BAA requirements and some practical negotiating tips for the parties involved.

“I’m Out Of Here!” Now What?

We all know that the healthcare industry is experiencing a wave of integration. This trend has been evident for many years. Fewer physicians are willing to assume the legal, financial and other business risks associated with owning their own practices. More and more physicians, including anesthesiologists, are becoming employed by large physician groups, health systems and national providers. This shift necessarily involves not only entry into new employment arrangements but also the termination of existing relationships. And those terminations are often governed by written employment agreements, state and federal healthcare laws and employer benefit plans and other policies and procedures. Before pursuing their next opportunity, physicians should pause for a moment and first attend to the arrangement that they are leaving. Departing physicians need to understand their legal rights and obligations when leaving their current employment relationships in order to avoid unintended consequences and detrimental missteps along the way. Here are a few words of practical advice for physicians contemplating an exit from their current employment arrangements.

Lessons Learned: Five Tips for Buying or Selling a Practice

If you are anticipating buying or selling a practice during the coming months, you are not alone. The healthcare industry is experiencing a wave of integration. In fact, it has been occurring for several years. Many transactional healthcare attorneys have negotiated and closed dozens of these transactions for clients. They have negotiated on behalf of the sellers in some cases and the buyers in others.

BMD Client Spotlight: IncludeHealth

BMD is happy to share an inspiring business backgrounder on IncludeHealth, Inc. - a Digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care & training platform for providers - and introduce its CEO and Founder, Ryan Eder. Client: IncludeHealth CEO: Ryan Eder Business: Digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care & training platform for providers. Relationship Attorney: Kate Hickner Legal Services: BMD and Kate serve as healthcare counsel for IncludeHealth, providing regulatory guidance as well as HIPAA and other data privacy and security guidance, in an evolving health care delivery, reimbursement and regulatory landscape.