Winstead Shareholders Corinne Smith and Kevin Wood hosted a webinar on Wednesday, May 5 at 3:00 p.m.

Most hospitals and health systems, regardless of size, are planning to increase their investments in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). ASCs have become the model for providing high-quality, low-cost surgical care, and many hospitals are converting their outpatient departments or migrating cases to ASCs. Consumer- and payer-driven trends favor ASCs, and hospitals are recognizing they need at least one ASC in their portfolio to accommodate patients and payers looking for a lower acuity, less expensive site for outpatient surgery. The panel will discuss current trends, developments, opportunities and challenges related to ASC investments, joint ventures, HOPD-to-ASC conversions, outpatient migration, impact of COVID-19, and more.

Speakers:
Joan Dentler, President and CEO, Avanza Healthcare Strategies
Carole Guinane, Executive Director of Ambulatory Surgery Center Operations, Cedars-Sinai
Corinne Smith, Shareholder, Winstead PC
Kevin Wood, Shareholder, Winstead PC

Hosted by: Avanza Healthcare Strategies and Winstead PC

VIEW ON DEMAND WEBINAR

Winstead PC Shareholder Taylor White published the second article for his column in Texas Lawyer about labor and employment issues and trending topics. The article is titled “OSHA Emphasizes Enforcement Effort for COVID-19 Hazards in Certain Industries.” The article is below:

Throughout the pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has faced criticism that it was not doing enough to protect America’s workers from COVID-19 hazards. Then, on Feb. 25, the U.S. Office of the Inspector General, the watchdog for the U.S. Department of Labor, issued a report, observing that “there is an increased risk that OSHA is not providing the level of protection that workers need at various job sites.” OSHA is focused on changing that perception in the coming months.
Continue Reading Taylor White in Texas Lawyer: OSHA Emphasizes Enforcement Effort for COVID-19 Hazards in Certain Industries

Big data entails nearly every aspect of commerce.  However, protecting big data as a form of intellectual property is complex.  For instance, patents, copyrights and trade secrets provide limited protection for datasets.  Moreover, the ownership of datasets can be uncertain.  Additionally, datasets may be subject to numerous regulatory laws.  In view of the aforementioned complexities, contractual agreements play a pivotal role in protecting and commercializing big data.

Big data is a valuable asset

Big data can be in many forms.  Such forms can include market data, consumer data, business records, health records, and experimental results.

Additionally, big data can find applications in numerous fields, including the healthcare and life sciences industries.  For instance, in the healthcare industry, data extracted from electronic health records can be supplied into a software with artificial intelligence (AI) or machine-learning algorithms for diagnostic applications, such as detecting early heart failure and predicting surgical complications[1].  Similarly, in the life sciences industry, DNA sequences generated through next generation sequencing techniques can be supplied to various AI-based software for the identification of potential drug targets[2].

Continue Reading Big Data as a Valuable Asset: Avenues for Protecting and Commercializing Big Data through Contractual Agreements

Winstead PC Shareholder Taylor White published the first article for his column in Texas Lawyer about labor and employment issues and trending topics. The article is titled “Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace.” The article is below:

“With states individually rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine to residents, employers are, and should be, beginning to consider their options with respect to employee vaccinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has previously recommended giving the COVID-19 vaccine in phases initially, as it relates to employees: (1) health care employees; then, (2) frontline essential employees, such as education workers, manufacturing workers, first responders, and food and agricultural workers; and then, (3) other essential workers, such as construction workers, finance workers, and transportation and logistics workers. Of course, ‘the goal is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as large quantities are available.’ Continue Reading Taylor White in Texas Lawyer: Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace

Winstead Shareholder Sarah Churchill Llamas presented a webinar for TMLT titled “New Law Impacting your Practice: Information Blocking.”  In the webinar, Sarah discusses the new Information Blocking rule that goes into effect on April 5, 2021. This rule affects patient access to data and system interoperability and it is intended to improve the electronic exchange of health information among payers, providers, and patients. These policies — it is predicted — will play a key role in reducing overall payer and provider burden and improving patient access to health information.

Upon completion of this video, viewers will be able to:

  • Understand the significance of criminal liabilities in the practice of medicine;
  • Address billing practices that could lead to civil and/or criminal liability; and
  • Evaluate how privacy practices and EHR security can prevent HIPAA penalties.

Click here to view. 

On Tuesday, December 15, Matthias Kleinsasser presented at the Austin Bar Association’s Health Law Section meeting. His presentation, titled “The Basics of the False Claims Act, STARK, and Anti-Kickback Statute and Recent Regulatory Developments,” provided a litigator’s perspective on the basics of the False Claims Act, STARK, and the Anti-Kickback Statute, along with a short discussion of potential pitfalls based on recent legal developments.

Resource:

The Basics of the False Claims Act, STARK, and Anti-Kickback Statute and Recent Regulatory Developments

With COVID-19 surging as the United States enters the winter months and holiday season, employers in all industries can expect to grapple with significant COVID-19 hazards for the foreseeable future. Employers in the healthcare industry though are doubly burdened not only by increased workloads stemming from higher numbers of ill patients, but also by increased health and safety risks for their workers. Accordingly, healthcare employers should pay close attention to guidance and updates from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and implement appropriate plans and protocols—if not already in place—to address COVID-19 hazards to their workers.

OSHA recently announced that, through November 5, 2020, it had issued 204 citations based on alleged violations related to COVID-19. These citations resulted in $2,856,533 worth of proposed penalties and generally stemmed from complaints, referrals, or fatalities in a number of essential industries, such as “hospitals and healthcare, nursing homes and long term care settings, and meat/poultry processing facilities.”

Continue Reading Healthcare Industry Employers, Take Heed: OSHA Issues Most Cited Standards Related to COVID-19 Hazards

Winstead PC Shareholder Sarah Churchill Llamas recently spoke with Medpage today about the federal emergency orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that currently allow physicians to prescribe opioid medications to patients via telemedicine. An excerpt is below:

“In the COVID-19 era, under relaxed federal emergency orders, licensed clinicians have been able to prescribe opioid analgesics for their patients even if they’ve only ever seen the patient via telehealth, rather than in person.

For providers like Stephen Bekanich, MD, a palliative care physician for Ascension Texas in Austin, this provision allows him to help seriously ill patients without requiring in-person visits that may be difficult for them or could expose them or their caregivers to the virus.

Continue Reading Sarah Churchill Llamas in Medpage Today: Docs Can Prescribe Opioids Via Telemedicine, for Now

In the wake of the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many practitioners have started to see a notable uptick in healthcare M&A activity through the third quarter of 2020.  Such activity spans from consolidation transactions in certain medical practice segments, accretive acquisitions in the hospice and home health space, business combinations to expand telemedicine offerings, and a growing interest in value-add healthcare real estate opportunities.  In most cases, the seller parties that have weathered the COVID-19 storm have done in so in part through the lifelines of funding provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through the CARES Act, and in particular Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.  However, as the healthcare M&A deals initially inked in Q3-2020 now shift to closing mode in Q4-2020, these PPP loans are presenting new challenges for both sellers and buyers.  The following highlights some of the key issues.

Continue Reading Healthcare M&A in a Post-PPP World: Time to Look that Gift Horse in the Mouth

In order to clarify the required procedures for changes of ownership of entities that have received Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funds, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), on October 2, 2020, released a Procedural Notice. Specifically, the Procedural Notice addresses the procedures companies with outstanding PPP loans must follow when undergoing a change of ownership, including mergers, equity or asset acquisitions, or ownership restructurings.[1]

Prior to the October 2, 2020 Procedural Notice, SBA loans typically required prior SBA approval for any transaction involving a change of ownership, regardless of the percentage change. Without further guidance from the SBA, PPP lenders have been cautious in granting their consent to their PPP borrowers’ change of ownership transactions without prior SBA approval in order to avoid potential defaults and forego forgiveness rights of the PPP loan.

Continue Reading SBA Procedural Notice Summary – Changes of Ownership