Peanut allergies are the second most common food allergy in children, occurring in about one in 50 kids. "There is no cure for peanut allergies other than avoidance, so families naturally have a lot of concern about accidental contact," says Weily Soong, MD, who practices with Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center.

Several years ago, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services released Chronic Care Management (CCM) to assist in improving the quality of chronic illness care which should result in better patient outcomes.

Over the past several months, the Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"), the entity responsible for compliance with and enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations ("HIPAA"), has issued several notices (and hosted a few webinars/conference calls) regarding HIPAA enforcement in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

With the spreading COVID-19 disease disrupting life, causing businesses to close temporarily, putting people out of work while most stay home, many Alabama medical practices are struggling with the challenges of managing a plunge in revenue and the need to safely care for patients.

In light of the challenges for medical practices, many carriers including BlueCross of Alabama have expanded coverage to make telehealth easier to access and are reimbursing clinics for certain types of visits.

Courts continue to be split regarding what is required to establish falsity under the False Claims Act, causing potential confusion amongst healthcare providers.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was signed by President Trump in December 2019 and became effective as of January 1, 2020.

A January 2020 decision by the District Court of Columbia has invalidated a rule regarding an individual's access to protected health information (PHI).

Approximately 30 percent of the three million people in metro Birmingham have pre-diabetes, a condition that can progress to Type 2 diabetes without treatment.

As you may know, a patient has the right to access his/her medical records pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA").

There is an ongoing discussion among healthcare provider associations regarding the appropriateness of the Physician Office Exemption ("POE") under the Certificate of Need ("CON") Program.

Physicians across specialties are facing mounting legal and operational risks at the same time as health systems and private equity (PE) investors are hungry to buy practices and take that risk off physicians' hands - at unprecedented valuations.

The absorption of physician practices by hospitals and health systems has soared the past decade. According to the Physicians Advocacy Institute, hospital acquisition of practices has increased 128 percent since 2012, jumping from 35,700 to 80,000 practices over five years.

Page Dunlap enjoyed owning Fowler Pharmacy in Hartselle. Her customers were her neighbors. They trusted her, and they knew that she was happy to take the time to answer any questions they might have.

The role of artificial intelligence, or machine learning, will be pivotal as the healthcare industry wrestles with a gargantuan amount of data that could improve - or muddle - health and cost priorities, according to a National Academy of Medicine Special Publication on the use of AI in healthcare.

The American Medical Association is helping physician practices integrate fundamental changes to the coding and documentation of evaluation and management (E/M) office visit services that account for nearly $23 billion in Medicare spending.

In September, the UAB School of Medicine opened the UAB Healthcare Educators Academy.

A new technology developed SVMIC, a medical malpractice insurance company in Tennessee, addresses the growing need for accessible options for navigating office-based care and the administrative responsibilities associated with running a medical practice.

A recent ruling in Rumsey v. Guthrie Med. provides positive support for those providing candid analysis of patient safety events without fear of discovery and all with the intent to improve patient safety and quality of healthcare.

An aging population, sicker patients, move to new models of care, need for new technologies to increase efficiency and a shortage of skilled staff have helped drive provider and executive salaries up over the last few years.

On October 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) issued proposed changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law), the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Beneficiary Inducement Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) law.

When East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC) in Opelika knew their cancer center was outgrowing its space, they turned to an architect who had worked with them for over 17 years to help design a state of the art facility with an emphasis on the best medical technology and healing arts.