First Healthcare Compliance CONNECT February 2020

CONNECT
An Exclusive Monthly Publication for Clients
March 2020
Whistleblower Actions
and Healthcare
The Role of Boards in
Healthcare Compliance
Q&A: Learning from
Health Care Scams in
2019 & How to Avoid
Being a Target in 2020
1st Talk Compliance:
Understanding the
Healthcare Quality
Measurement Data
Landscape: “Data is
the New Oil”
New Training Modules
Client FAQ Corner

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In This Issue:
Client FAQ Corner
Whistleblower Actions and Healthcare
Q&A: Learning from Health Care Scams in 2019 & How to Avoid Being a Target in 2020
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First Healthcare Compliance, LLC © 2020

Compliance Super Ninja
Betty M Perryman, Administrator
Southern Avenue Family Practice
How would you describe your experience with First Healthcare Compliance?
Since working with First Healthcare Compliance I feel assured that our office is compliant and I can
spend my time meeting other office needs. It is easy to keep up since we are reminded often of
areas of concern. It has certainly helped me to feel confident in my compliance program.
What do you enjoy most about working with Southern Avenue Family Practice?
I have worked with my doctor for many years and I really enjoy the interaction with the patients.
We have a concierge practice and we are able to spend more time with the patients when they
come in. Our staff has been together for a long time and we work well as a team and it is a
pleasure working with them.
Would you rather explore space or the ocean and why?
The ocean is a favorite place to visit and hearing the waves is
very calming and relaxing to me. California is a great getaway
from the heat in Arizona.
The Role of Boards in Healthcare Compliance
1st Talk Compliance: Understanding the Healthcare Quality
Measurement Data Landscape: “Data is the New Oil”
Training Modules
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 3

Client FAQ Corner
Does HIPAA Allow Healthcare Providers to Share PHI related to the
Coronavirus?
With the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), healthcare providers need to understand their responsibilities
when it comes to handling protected health information (PHI). This month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) issued a bulletin to ensure that healthcare providers understand how PHI may be shared under HIPAA
during an infectious disease outbreak:
To ensure public health and safety, healthcare providers are permitted to disclose PHI without individual authorization:
• To a public health authority, such as the CDC or state or local health department, that is authorized by law to collect/
receive such information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability. This includes
the reporting of disease or injury; reporting vital events, such as births or deaths; and conducting public health
surveillance, investigations, or interventions. As an example, HHS states that a covered entity may disclose PHI on an
ongoing basis to the CDC to report all prior and prospective cases of patients exposed to or suspected or confirmed to
have Coronavirus.
• At the direction of a public health authority, to a foreign government agency that is acting in collaboration with the
public health authority.
• To persons at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition if other law, such as state law, authorizes the
covered entity to notify such persons as necessary to prevent or control the spread of the disease or otherwise to
carry out public health interventions or investigations.
Healthcare providers may disclose, without a patient’s authorization, PHI about the patient as necessary to treat the
patient or to treat a different patient. PHI may also be shared with a patient’s family members, relatives, friends, or other
persons identified by the patient as involved in the patient’s care. A healthcare provider may share patient information as
necessary to identify, locate, and notify family members, guardians, or anyone else responsible for the patient’s care, of
the patient’s location, general condition, or death. This may include, where necessary to notify family members and others,
the police, the press, or the public at large.
• In doing so, the healthcare provider should get verbal permission from individuals or otherwise be able to reasonably
infer that the patient does not object, when possible; if the individual is incapacitated or not available, healthcare
providers may share information for these purposes if, in their professional judgment, doing so is in the patient’s best
interest.
• A covered entity may share PHI with disaster relief organizations, like the American Red Cross, that are authorized
by law or by their charters to assist in disaster relief efforts, for the purpose of coordinating the notification of family
members or other persons involved in the patient’s care, of the patient’s location, general condition, or death. A
patient’s permission to share their information is not necessary if it interferes with the organization’s ability to respond
to the emergency.
Health care providers may share patient information with anyone as necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and
imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public – consistent with applicable law (such as state statutes,
regulations, or case law) and the provider’s standards of ethical conduct.
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HHS reminds healthcare providers that except in the limited circumstances outlined in the bulletin reporting to the media
or the public at large about an identifiable patient, or the disclosure to the public or media of specific information about
treatment of an identifiable patient, such as specific tests, test results or details of a patient’s illness, may not be done
without the patient’s written authorization.
In disclosing PHI, healthcare providers must comply with the minimum necessary standard. For more information,
see: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/february-2020-hipaa-and-novel-coronavirus.pdf
Explore the FAQs tab in your compliance solution to
find answers to your compliance questions!
Navigating Workplace Violence
Prevention Under OSHA
Workplace violence is a serious issue, especially in healthcare facilities. In 2013
alone, over 25,000 occupational assault injuries occurred, most of which were
in the health care and social services industries. The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) responded in 2015 by updating and publishing
their guidelines on how to best prevent workplace violence. The OSHA workplace
violence prevention guidelines help employees and employers alike by providing
the necessary steps to maintain a safe work environment.
DOWNLOAD NOW
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 5

Whistleblower Actions and Healthcare
By Catherine Short
Shauna Itri, Partner at Seeger Weiss
LLP will lead the presentation
Whistleblower Actions and Healthcare at
the Healthcare Compliance Symposium
2020 on April 23, 2020.
Shauna Itri, Partner at Seeger Weiss LLP will lead the
presentation Whistleblower Actions and Healthcare at the
Healthcare Compliance Symposium 2020 on April 23, 2020.
Shauna Itri, Partner at Seeger Weiss Whistlerblower lawFor
well over a decade Shauna has been leading litigation
teams in complex fraud cases in both state and federal
courts. Shauna’s nationwide practice has focused on
representing plaintiffs in various settings, including class
action securities and consumer matters; antitrust; and
cases involving patient harm. Shauna also has extensive
experience representing whistleblowers in False Claims
Act lawsuits, and tax and securities whistleblowers with
claims under the IRS and SEC whistleblower programs.
After obtaining her law degree, Shauna sought to represent
plaintiffs because of her deep-seated notions of fairness
and her desire to represent individuals who wanted to bring
corporate fraud to light. She believes the key to success in
complex litigation is using experience to lay bare various
defense tactics that are designed to obscure the truth.
Shauna’s temperament brings a sense of calmness to her
litigation teams, even under the most demanding conditions.
Using her legal skills, vision, work-ethic, and attention
to detail, she has regularly generated multi-million-dollar
settlements for her clients.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Shauna received a B.A.
and an M.A. from Stanford University, where she was
two-time captain of the University’s women’s nationally
ranked soccer team. She received her J.D. from Villanova
University.
Shauna is an avid volunteer and educator. She has served
as an adjunct professor at Villanova University (2011-2013)
and Widener Law School (2013-2018), teaching corporate
deviance courses. Shauna currently serves as co-chair
of Stanford University Alumni Undergraduate Admissions
Volunteer Interview Program, and is the President of the
Junior League of
Philadelphia, Inc.,
an organization of
approximately 800
women committed to
promoting voluntarism,
developing the
potential of women,
and improving the
community through
the effective action
and leadership of
trained volunteers.
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The most comprehensive
healthcare compliance course
The Fundamentals is a user-friendly, four-module online course
designed to help healthcare professionals understand the essential
principles and practices of compliance.
Written by our “dream team” of healthcare providers and attorneys,
The Fundamentals course is packed with useful, easy-to-understand
information that covers HIPAA, OSHA, employment law and enforcement
of federal healthcare laws.
The course takes less than four hours to complete, and the modules can
be viewed in any order. A certificate of course completion is provided
following successful completion of the online course and exam.
The Compliance Certification Board (CCB)® has approved this event for up to 4.0 nonlive CCB CEUs.
Continuing Education Units are awarded based on individual attendance records. Granting of prior approval
in no way constitutes endorsement by CCB of this event content or of the event sponsor.
Buy Course Today
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 7

Q&A: Learning from Health Care
Scams in 2019 & How to Avoid
Being a Target in 2020
By Catherine Short
Stephen D. Bittinger, Esq. Partner at Nexsen
Pruet, presented the webinar The Biggest
Health Care Scams in 2019 and How to Avoid
Being a Target in 2020. Stephen answered
many commonly asked questions on our blog in
conjunction with this webinar. Be sure to catch
Stephen presenting in person on April 23, 2020
in Wilmington, DE at the 3rd Annual Healthcare
Compliance Symposium co-sponsored by First
Healthcare Compliance and Widener University
Delaware Law School.
Why are you, a health care reimbursement attorney,
presenting about fraud schemes, rather than a
criminal defense attorney?
Great question! The main reason is that I want to help
providers avoid innocent mistakes that could get them
accused of health care fraud. I defend fraud, waste, and
abuse audits nationally, and 95% of them turn out to be
based on negligent, not intentional, conduct that caused
errors in billing.
What do the fraud schemes from 2019 tell you?
Two main things: (1) the fraudsters are becoming far more
sophisticated; and (2) the government is getting even
better at hunting fraud. Unfortunately, this means there
are far more innocent providers caught from both sides –
providers that become unknowing participants in schemes,
and providers that are wrongly accused of fraud by the
government based on negligence-based errors.
How do providers educate themselves?
First and foremost, the entire medical training system
(i.e. medical schools, residency programs, continuing
education programs, etc.) must be far more focused on
compliance training of the providers, not just support staff
and administration. Too many providers have relied on
support staff that were not adequately educated and the
provider ends up paying a severe price for someone else’s
failure.
How do providers educate patients on how not to be
victims of health care fraud?
This is very difficult for providers because of the incredible
time constraints of providers with patients due to
reimbursement values. However, providers must lead a
culture of compliance in their practice. Whether a provider
is inside a large hospital system or a small practice,
their mentality towards compliance and protecting both
themselves and patients from fraud sets the tone for all
those who work with them.
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First Healthcare Compliance, LLC © 2020

Stephen D. Bittinger – Partner at Nexsen Pruet, LLC
(Charleston, SC) – represents providers in disputes and
litigation with private and government payors regarding
reimbursement, contracting, credentialing, and regulatory
matters. He has been named a Rising Star in Health Care
Law by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2016 and the
Legal Elite in Health Care Law by Charleston Business
Magazine. He can be reached at:
sbittinger@nexsenpruet.com.
Be sure to view a replay of Stephen’s webinar The
Biggest Health Care Scams in 2019 and How to Avoid
Being a Target in 2020 and check out his other webinars
with us, The UPIC Revolution: CMS Integrity Auditors 2.0.,
and The New Personal Audit Threat Targeted Probe and
Educate TPE Audits. The UPIC is Coming: CMS Auditors
2.0 also available on-demand in our shopping cart as part
of our online compliance training courses and checkout
Stephen’s podcast.
HIPAA Privacy and Security
This book provides an easy-tounderstand
overview of HIPAA and how
it impacts healthcare companies and
their employees.
BUY BOOK NOW
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 9

The Role of Boards in Healthcare Compliance
By Catherine Short
Jennifer Gimler Brady, Partner and General
Counsel at Potter Anderson & Corroon
LLP will lead the presentation The Role of
Boards in Healthcare Compliance at the
Healthcare Compliance Symposium 2020
on April 23.
include: seminars on exclusions under federal health
care programs, reasonable accommodations under the
Americans with Disabilities Act, business associate
agreements under HIPAA, and “hot topics” for employers.
Ms. Brady is the immediate past chair of the firm’s
Litigation Group and a former member of the firm’s
Executive Committee, on which she served for over a
decade. She currently serves as General Counsel to the
firm. Ms. Brady concentrates her practice in the areas of
health law, labor and employment law, and commercial
litigation. She regularly advises long- term care providers,
physician practices and other health care providers on a
variety of issues, including licensing and certification, fraud
and abuse laws, medical privacy and confidentiality, and
litigation matters. Jennifer also counsels employers on
labor and employment issues, including unionization and
collective bargaining, employee supervision, discipline
and discharge, sexual harassment, and employment
discrimination.
Jennifer is a frequent lecturer on such topics as
employment practices, fraud and abuse laws, longterm
care litigation and regulation, medical records
confidentiality, compliance under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), and medical
practice management. Recent speaking engagements
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First Healthcare Compliance, LLC © 2020

Early Bird
Tickets
Available
Now
Healthcare Compliance
Symposium 2020
April 23, 2020
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 11

hosted by Catherine Short
Catherine Short speaks with Reid Kiser, MS, founder and chief consultant of Kiser Healthcare Solutions,
LLC where he applies his innovation, leadership, and industry experience to build collaborative solutions
for clients associated with quality measurement, analytics and reporting tools, and business systems. We
will discuss ‘Understanding the Healthcare Quality Measurement Data Landscape: “Data is the New
Oil”.’ Through our discussion, we will have a deeper understanding of the general healthcare quality and
performance measurement landscape, define the various measurement types and categories, explore the
data source types for quality measurement reporting including the strengths and weaknesses of each, as
well as explore what the future holds based on current trends and insights.
Listen weekdays at
7:30am, 3:30pm, 11:30pm ET
Check out our Show Page!
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WORD SEARCH
R P B U W S U R I V A N O R O C Q C F U
O Y A O R U F R A U D N G U X I Q P P K
I K G O E E C N A I L P M O C C P B P G
L Z F N W L W E V N B A L U S X F M N J
L L A Z O R J M R D A T A O M G U G L A
S U Y M L T S M E A S U R E M E N T P E
S E S N B V N E H D C I Z W L K C F U E
W F P E E Y T E L P M H A V F C K Z V O
U W X G L T J N M Q R J T G B A R I T Q
N L A L T I R V V E S A V L E U S Y N Q
M X Y I S L K M O S S C C R A N N S F K
K M H G I A R E X L X R B T E E N N N W
L A B E H T P X W A U T U H I O H F I G
K X K N W N L F Z O U N E B I C N B G F
J Z V C C E K G X O M R T T M X E A S N
A T W E Q M C I K S P O U E M I L C O Y
N D O O Z Y V Y R M U L D H E I E U J Q
U S G G B R D F O Z O T Q F F R P R A K
B B H A B J S C A S W W A R W C Z W H G
A J R D V I O Y I C Y B E P Q J Z I I U
HEALTHCARE COMPLIANCE PRACTICE
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK COMPREHENSIVE
WHISTLEBLOWER VOLUNTEER REIMBURSEMENT
FRAUD NEGLIGENCE MENTALITY
DATA SOLUTIONS MEASUREMENT
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 13

New Training Modules Now Available!
Training
Health Industry Data Protection
in the Age of Hardware Hacking
I Fought The Law: What To Do When
Facing A Potential/Actual Lawsuit
Making Your Referral Sources Legal
Surviving an OCR Audit
Avoiding HR Issues at Company Events
& Building an Engaging Culture
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