Federal EKRA Law Continues to Cause Uncertainty in Clinical Laboratory Sales Compliance

Healthcare attorneys advise medical laboratory leaders to ensure staff understand difference between EKRA and other federal fraud laws, such as the Anti-kickback Statute More than four years have passed since Congress passed the law and yet the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (EKRA) continues to cause anxiety and confusion. In particular are the differences in the safe harbors between the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Stark Law versus EKRA. This creates uncertainty...

Four Regulatory Developments Coming This Fall That Are Relevant for Clinical Laboratory Leaders and Pathology Group Managers

Regulators and lawmakers are considering proposed changes to CLIA and PAMA involving medical laboratory services Clinical laboratories and pathology groups should monitor a series of federal regulatory developments underway this fall. The proposals and documents will potentially affect how lab managers and staff do their jobs and how much Medicare reimbursement medical laboratories receive for certain diagnostic tests next year. Among the initiatives under consideration are the following:...

CDC, HHS Create National Wastewater Surveillance System to Help Monitor and Track Spread of COVID-19

Though not a replacement for clinical laboratory testing, the CDC says the surveillance system will help slow spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities Clinical laboratory testing for COVID-19 is receiving an ally. In mid-August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced they were initiating a National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In collaboration with other...

FDA’s Regulatory Hurdles ‘Paralyzed’ Efforts of CLIA-Certified Clinical Laboratories to Offer Alternatives to CDC’s Flawed COVID-19 Test, Part Two of Two

Washington Post investigation outlines scientists’ frustrations in the early days of the pandemic, as they worked to deploy laboratory-developed tests for the novel coronavirus In the wake of the failed rollout of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 diagnostic test last February, many CLIA-certified academic and public health laboratories were ready, and had the necessary resources, to develop their own coronavirus molecular diagnostic tests to help meet the...

HHS Announces Culpability Limits for HIPAA Violations, Drops Annual Fines Owed by Providers

Clinical laboratories need to understand how their patients’ protected health information is being used and secured by vendors to avert data breaches and HHS penalties Most readers of The Dark Report, the sister publication to the Dark Daily, are aware that more than 24-million clinical laboratory patients had their protected health information (PHI) stolen during several recent data breaches involving multiple medical laboratory companies. The first public statements made by clinical lab...
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