Transparency is a hot topic in healthcare. Instituted due to popular demand and now enforced by state and federal laws, transparency is required through good faith estimates for the cost of health care services, publishing of pricing data online in machine readable formats, and requirements for out-of-network providers to provide notice and obtain consent from patients before balance billing.

A Washington hospital system recently paid $22.7 million to settle false claims liability based on fairly common RVU and wRVU compensation methodologies, which pays surgeons based on a productivity metric that increases with the complexity of the surgery performed.

On April 20, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined an action plan to advance health equity by providing health care for all people, regardless of background. The plan included various actions, which include closing gaps in health care access, promoting culturally and linguistically appropriate services, building on outreach efforts to enroll more eligible individuals in Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and the Marketplace, incorporating screening for health-related social needs and expanding and standardize the collection and use of data on individuals in order to better adapt programs to serve community needs.

The Department of Health and Human Services resolved three investigations and one matter relating to compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Two of the cases related to the Office of Civil Rights' ongoing Right of Access Initiative, which is aimed at supporting individuals' right to timely and cost-effective access to their health care records.

Advanced directives are essential tools for ensuring one's wishes for medical and end-of-life treatment are known. Unfortunately, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are often overlooked in discussions surrounding advanced directives. Thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Indianapolis Bar Foundation, a new program from Indiana Disability Rights will empower these individuals to make their important end-of-life choices known.

On Feb. 17, 2022, a historic networking event occurred among the Marion County Bar Association (MCBA), the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Indiana (APABA), Indianapolis Bar Association (IndyBar) and Indianapolis Bar Foundation (IndyBar Foundation).

Check out this week's report of health care and life sciences related legislation.

Check out this week's report of health care and life sciences related legislation.

Check out this week's report of health care and life sciences related legislation.