Doctors, Did You Know Your Non-Competes Are Shrinking and Burning Down?
As outlined in a previous Milling blog post, Louisiana non-compete agreements are enforceable only if they meet strict statutory criteria. Recent amendments to the statute governing these criteria, effective January 1, 2025, impose additional restrictions on physicians’ non-compete agreements. Although the new law generally applies only to agreements executed after this date, it also impacts […]
Avoiding Burnout
Anyone can suffer from burnout related to their profession and employment. Lawyers, doctors and other professionals are particularly susceptible to burnout. It is important that each of us recognizes the signs and symptoms of burnout so that it can be addressed early on and possibly avoided. Common signs of burnout in any profession or […]
Maintaining Medicare “Conditions of Participation” Following a Shift in Ownership
By Sarah Fisher The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as Louisiana’s State Licensing Boards, have an interest in determining whether Medicare providers meet, and continue to meet, the Medicare Conditions of Participation. Medicare providers include nursing homes, hospitals, doctors & clinicians, home health services, […]
Maintaining Medicare “Conditions of Participation” Following a Shift in Ownership
By Sarah Fisher The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as Louisiana’s State Licensing Boards, have an interest in determining whether Medicare providers meet, and continue to meet, the Medicare Conditions of Participation. Medicare providers include nursing homes, hospitals, doctors & clinicians, home health services, hospice care, inpatient rehabilitation […]
Civil Monetary Penalties relating to Medicare and Medicaid Services
By Bruce Cranner The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized and published the rule specifying how and when it will calculate and impose civil monetary penalties (CMPs) when Group Health Plan (GHP) and Non-Group Health Plan (NGHP) Responsible Reporting Entities (RREs) fail to meet their Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) reporting obligations. The […]
Touhy Requests
If you are involved in litigation and need to obtain official information, such as documents or testimony, from a Government agency or department, you may need to submit “Touhy Requests” to that particular agency or department. Named after the Supreme Court case, United States ex rel. Touhy v. Ragen, 340 U.S. 462, 468 (1951), a Touhy Request is […]
Ethics and Hidden Greed: Ethical Behavior is Essential to Success
Robert G. Docters, JD, MBA. Bruce A. Cranner, JD—Partner, Milling Benson Woodward, L.L.P. Lawyers must be attuned to every detail in their practices. Similarly, in promoting ethics, ethics champions must become aware of the small violations, before they become major violations. This requires effort and skill because ethical violations are not obvious. That effort is […]
Louisiana’s Good Samaritan Law in favor of Licensed Medical Professionals
Have you ever been at the scene of an emergency and hesitated to render assistance even though you had medical training? As a medical professional do you worry about liability from acting at the scene of an emergency? Louisiana law offers some reassurance to those hesitant to take action to render first aid or to […]
Maintaining HIPAA Compliance in an Ever Surveilled World
Video surveillance of public areas within medical clinics and hospitals is usually acceptable and welcomed by patients, especially in those areas that have the highest levels of foot traffic and are thus the most crucial areas to monitor to determine who has entered the facility, to identify potential threats, and to record footage of any […]