Here is the current version of the syllabus for our course -- note please that the assignments for submission are now going to be two ten page double spaced submissions in lieu of three shorter submissions, in light of the class cancellation on February 13 and the passage of time. In addition, note the makeup class now scheduled for March 23 at our usual time in East 134. Thank you.
__________________________
George Mason University
College of Health & Human Services
Department of Health Administration & Policy
Syllabus for Health Law - Spring 2007 Term
Alan S. Goldberg, Adjunct Professor
healthlawyer@gmail.com
Copyright © 2007 Alan S. Goldberg All Rights Reserved
Welcome to George Mason University College of Health and Human Services Department of Health Care Administration and Policy Legal Issues Relevant to Healthcare Administration
On January 23, 2007 at 4:30 PM the course entitled "Legal Issues Relevant to Healthcare Administration" will commence. The texts for this course are:
Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration, Tenth Edition by George D. Pozgar, MBA, CHE, © 2007, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc., available via the Campus Bookstore,
and the following --
The Quest for Interoperable Electronic Health Records: A Guide to Legal Issues in Establishing Health Information Networks, Editors: Kristen Rosati, Esquire, Coppersmith Gordon Schermer Owens & Nelson PLC, Marilyn Lamar, Esquire, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, © - July 2005, American Health Lawyers Association Health Information & Technology Practice Group,
and
Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Practical Perspectives, Linda A. Baumann, Editor-in-Chief, © 2002, American Bar Association Health Law Section.
In addition, miscellaneous materials including materials available via Internet access will be assigned from time to time to supplement what is referenced below. Students are expected to be able to access the Internet for assignments but a computer is not required during classroom attendance.
Each Tuesday class will commence at 4:30 PM and will end at 7:10 PM.
There is no scheduled class on February 6, 2007; the class originally scheduled for February 13, 2007 was canceled because of a snow storm; and there is no scheduled class on March 13, 2007. The final class is scheduled for May 1, 2007.
This syllabus will from time to time be supplemented by special materials that are timely and relevant to our course and also is subject to change. Therefore students should review information concerning this course that will appear at HEALTHLAWYERBLOG accessible at:
http://healthlawyer.typepad.com/healthlawyer/
Additional information and changes will also be announced and identified during classes, which all students are expected to attend except in unusual circumstances. If attendance is not possible for a particular class, please alert Professor Goldberg in advance of any missed class if at all possible.
Each student will be required to submit two research and analysis papers during the term, which shall be a student’s personal and individual work product. Each paper will consist of not less than ten sheets, double spaced and printed on one side of each sheet, using font size 12 from Microsoft (R) Word for Windows or an equivalent font size. These two assignments will be discussed during our classes. There will be no examination for this course. Your grade will be based, inter alia, upon your two papers and your classroom participation.
Note that I have arranged for each of you to be registered to attend HIPAA SUMMIT FOURTEEN to be held in Washington, DC. You are not obliged to attend and this is not an event attendance requirement that is a part of our course. Nevertheless, this would be a timely and excellent opportunity for you to participate in an extraordinary gathering of distinguished individuals active in health care and information technology and in government. Even if you can attend only parts of this event, your experience should be worthwhile.
THE FOURTEENTH NATIONAL HIPAA SUMMIT, The Leading Forum on Healthcare EDI, Privacy, Confidentiality, Data Security and HIPAA Compliance, March 26 - 31, 2007, Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
1. Assignment for 1/30/07 class
Your assignment for our class on 1/30/07 is to read Chapter 8 from the Pozgar text and to read Chapter 5 from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse text. In addition, please download and read the following two court decisions:
Doe v. Florida Department of Health
http://world.std.com/~goldberg/DoevFlaDeptofHealth.pdf
and
Sarka v. Regents of the University of California
http://world.std.com/~goldberg/SarkavRegentsoftheUnivofCalifornia.pdf
2. Assignment 2 Part One for 2/20/07 class
Medical errors are being studied and many are endeavoring to address how best to prevent such errors. The following article addressed psychological issues and other citations below address related issues including the "I'm sorry" initiative. See the following please --
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/070129fa_fact_groopman
WHAT’S THE TROUBLE? by JEROME GROOPMAN How doctors think. Issue of
2007-01-29 Posted 2007-01-22.
Additional information is in the following files (albeit only in bits and pieces because we don't have the text, but the pictures and brief statements are instructive nevertheless): please see --
http://www.qualityhealthcarenetwork.ca/pdfs/crosskerry.pdf
or
http://tinyurl.com/yot2qu
and
http://www.crnns.ca/documents/Pat%20Croskerry%20May%202005.pdf
OR
http://tinyurl.com/yukohk
relating to --
The Human Factor
in Patient Safety
Pat Croskerry, MD, PhD
Safety in Health Care
Dartmouth, May 2005
Additional background information regarding medical errors and a "I'm sorry" initiative may be found at
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309068371/html/
and at
http://iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4/117/ToErr-8pager.pdf
and
http://www.rmf.harvard.edu/
and
http://www.sorryworks.net/
and more information appears in a recent Wall Street Journal article --
"THE INFORMED PATIENT
By LAURA LANDRO
January 24
Doctors Learn to Say 'I'm Sorry'
Patients' Stories
Of Hospital Errors
Serve to Teach Staff
January 24, 2007; Page D5
When 6-year-old Jill Hartel was hospitalized toward the end of a long battle with leukemia, her mother woke up from a fitful sleep at her daughter's bedside, horrified to find a nurse administering an intravenous dose of Benadryl, though a medication allergy was clearly marked on her medical chart...."
A general resource web site for perusal and to gain an overview of what AHRQ does and is doing is at --
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/errorsix.htm
Assignment 2 Part Two for 2/20/07 class
Please read Chapters 5 and 7 in the Pozgar text and the following materials as a part of Assignment 2 for our class scheduled for February 20, 2007:
http://healthlawyer.com/SchroederNorthwest2006.pdf
http://www.healthlawyer.com/darling.html
Please be sure to print the foregoing so you have this material available for ready-reference during our classroom discussion.
3. Assignment 3 for 2/27/077 class
a. From the Health Care Fraud & Abuse text, Chapter 8, and Appendices A-1, B-1, C-1, D-1, E-1, E-2, E-3
b. From the Pozgar text, Chapter 21.
Please bring the Baumann book with you to class on February 27, 2007.
4. Assignment 4 for 3/6/07 class
a. From the Health Care Fraud & Abuse text, Chapter 4
b. From the Pozgar text, Chapter 4.
5. Assignment 5 for 3/20/07 class
a. From the Health Care Fraud & Abuse text, Chapters 2 and 3
b. From the Internet,
http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/alertsandbulletins/consultants.pdf
http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/alertsandbulletins/042303SABJointVentures.pdf
6. Assignment 6 for 3/23/07 class
a. From the Internet,
http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/pl104191.htm
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacysummary.pdf
b. From the Pozgar text, Chapters 11 and 12.
7. Assignment 7 for 3/27/07 class
a. From The Quest for Interoperable Electronic Health Records: A Guide to Legal Issues in Establishing Health Information Networks, Chapters 1 and 2
b. Regional Health Information Organization materials to be provided.
8. Assignment 8 for 4/3/07 class
a. Read materials on the Internet regarding the following at
http://www.stayexempt.org/
Tax-Exempt Status
How can you keep your 501(c)(3) exempt?
Unrelated Business Income
Does your organization generate taxable income?
Employment Issues
How should you treat your workers for tax purposes?
and
Required Disclosures
To whom do you have to show your records?
b. Read August 2006 American Health Lawyers Association MEMBER BRIEFING Tax and Finance Practice Group regarding STA-HOME HEALTH AGENCY, et al. v. COMMISSIONER, to be provided.
9. Assignment 9 for 4/10/07 class
a. Read Pozgar text Chapter 20
b. Read materials on the Internet --
http://www.stayexempt.org/_pdfs/Mod3_Summary.pdf
and
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss8.pdf
10. Assignment 10 for 4/17/07 class
a. Read Pozgar text Chapters 13 and 15
b. Read the following materials on the Internet --
http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/Data_Banks_at_a_Glance.pdf
http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/timeline.html
http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/fs/Fact_Sheet-National_Practitioner_Data_Bank.pdf
http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/fs/Fact_Sheet-Section_1921.pdf
http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/NPDB_and_1921_at_a_Glance.pdf
http://www.npdbhipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/NPDBHIPDB_and_Section_1921_Comparison_Chart.pdf
http://www.npdbhipdb.hrsa.gov/pubs/NPDB_with_Section_1921_and_HIPDB_Comparison_Chart.pdf
11. Assignment 11 for 4/24/07 class
a. Read the following on the Internet --
http://www.Medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11110.pdf
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11136.pdf
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11126.pdf
b. Read the following on the Internet -- go to the site linked below and read the materials further linked as indicated below --
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/FAQ_PartD.htm
MEDICARE PART D
What is Medicare Part D?
Who is eligible for Medicare drug coverage?
What is the basic benefit of Part D?
What drugs are covered under Part D?
c. Read the following on the Internet --
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/Downloads/MedicaidAtAGlance2005.pdf
12. Assignment 12 for 5/1/07 class
During our final class, we will review the entire term and we will discuss some circumstances that care arise in the day to day delivery of and payment for health care, including new and different entities, relationships, and transactions. A specimen contract and related materials will be provided in advance of this class.
ASG/tt