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DOH Releases Quarterly Report Covering Through March 2021

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The Florida Department of Health’s Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) for the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2020-2021, was recently released. It provides information and statistics on actions involving licensed health professionals through March 2021.

Scope of the Florida DOH’s Control.

First, note that Florida’s Department of Health regulates 22 health care practitioner boards and four health professional councils. This makes it one of the largest such organizations in the country. Second, this also means that the practice of health care in Florida is one of the most heavily regulated anywhere in the U.S., with each professional board, as well […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-24T20:02:05-04:00March 26, 2024|Dental Law Blog|

Department of Health Quarterly Report Released Covering Through March 2021

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The Florida Department of Health’s Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) for the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2020-2021, was recently released. It provides information and statistics on actions involving licensed health professionals through March 2021.

Scope of the Florida Department of Health’s Control.

First, note that Florida’s Department of Health regulates 22 health care practitioner boards and four health professional councils. This makes it one of the largest such organizations in the country. Second, this also means that the practice of health care in Florida is one of the most heavily regulated anywhere in the U.S., with each professional board, […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:10-04:00March 11, 2024|Massage Law Blog|

Review Your Department Of Health Practitioner Profile or it Could Cost You!

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

In 1997, the Florida Legislature passed a statute that requires the Department of Health (DOH) to maintain online practitioner profiles for certain health care professionals. Practitioner profiles are required for medical doctors, osteopathic physicians (DOs), chiropractors (DCs), advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and podiatric physicians. The statute specified the required information to be maintained, how it was to be reported, and other requirements dealing with compiling and updating the information in the profiles.

To visit the DOH’s website and learn more about these profiles, click here.

What […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:13-04:00June 14, 2019|Pharmacy Law Blog|

You Could Face Steep Repercussions From License Discipline or Resignation After Notice of Investigation

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Do you have a dental, medical, pharmacy or nursing license in several different states? Do you have a license in more than one health care profession? Have you been notified that an investigation has been opened against you? Are you thinking about resigning your professional license or voluntarily relinquishing such a license? Then you must be aware of the following information.

First, you should never voluntarily relinquish or resign your license after you know that an investigation has been opened or that disciplinary action has been taken against you. Such resignation is considered to be […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:13-04:00May 23, 2019|Dental Law|

Although the Law Stacks the Deck Against You, Leaving a Foreign Body in a Patient Doesn’t Always Mean Negligence or Discipline

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Leaving a foreign object (sometimes referred to as a “retained foreign body” or “RFB”) in a patient, such as a sponge, clamp, forceps, surgical needle, guide wire, part of a surgical instrument or other paraphernalia commonly used in surgical, examination, or other diagnostic procedures, does not necessarily mean that the physician has committed an act of negligence or that the physician will be disciplined by the Board of Medicine (BOM) or Department of Health (DOH). There are many defenses in such a case and many incidents which do not constitute negligence. However, as a preliminary […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:14-04:00May 21, 2019|Health Facilities Law Blog|

Review Your Florida DOH Practitioner Profile or it Could Cost You!

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

In 1997, the Florida Legislature passed a statute that requires the Department of Health (DOH) maintain online practitioner profiles for certain health care professionals. Practitioner profiles are required for medical doctors, osteopathic physicians (DOs), chiropractors (DCs), advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and podiatric physicians. The statute specified the required information to be maintained, how it was to be reported, and other requirements dealing with compiling and updating the information in the profiles.

To visit the DOH’s website and learn more about these profiles, click here.

What Information Does the Practitioner Profile Include?

The profile contains required […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:14-04:00May 21, 2019|The Health Law Firm Blog|

Government Discovers Extensive Overbilling of Cancer Drug to Medicare

By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm, and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

It’s no surprise that the government is aggressively pursuing Medicare fraud. Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), made a surprising discovery. An audit uncovered that more than three-quarters (3/4) of all Medicare claims for the breast-cancer drug Herceptin were billed incorrectly, according to Modern Healthcare. This was found during an audit conducted on physicians and hospitals from around the country between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2010.

To read the entire Modern Healthcare article, click […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:44-04:00June 1, 2018|Medicare, Medicare Audit, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Medical Staff Involved in Peer Reviewers Can Receive Compensatory and Punitive Damages for Violations of their Confidentiality: Part 1 of 2

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Health Law and Shelby Root

An important decision was delivered by the Supreme Court of New Mexico involving peer reviewers’ statutory right to confidentiality. In the decision, the New Mexico court allowed peer reviewers to recover compensatory and punitive damages resulting from confidentiality violations. The court recognized that peer reviewers are members of the class protected by the peer review statute in New Mexico. Thus, the court stated, they deserve remedies for violations of their confidentiality right. To view the New Mexico Peer Review Statute, click here.

Yedidag v. Roswell Clinic Corp., the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:00-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|