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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has announced the nationwide implementation of a new Risk-Based Survey (“RBS”) process for qualifying nursing homes beginning September 8, 2026. CMS Memorandum QSO-26-14-NH explains that the RBS is intended to allow State Survey Agencies (“SAs”) to use fewer survey resources at higher-performing facilities and redirect resources toward complaint investigations and facilities where residents may face greater risk of harm.

CMS estimates that approximately 12% of nursing homes nationwide currently qualify. Qualifying…
Continue Reading Skilled Nursing Update: CMS Implements Nationwide Risk-Based Surveys For Higher-Performing Skilled Nursing Facilities

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in hospitals and health care systems using credit tenant lease (“CTL”) financing for new outpatient projects. Below is an overview of CTL financing.

  • Overview – CTL financing has been around for many years. In some circles, it’s referred to as lease financing or synthetic lease financing. Regardless of the name, it’s a unique way for hospitals to tap into long-term, low-cost financing based on the hospital’s credit profile. This type

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: What Hospitals Need to Know About Credit Tenant Lease Financing

    Last year, Hall Render introduced you to the APRN Modernization Act (“the Act”) after Wisconsin passed it into law in early August 2025. The Act, which takes effect on September 1, 2026, modifies licensure requirements so that qualified advanced practice nurses may practice without a collaborative arrangement with a physician or dentist. Since last month’s update, questions remain regarding how the Act will interact with payor requirements, including the Medicare Conditions of Participation, the Wisconsin Injured Patients and…
    Continue Reading Wisconsin’s APRN Modernization Act is Effective September 1

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is seeking public input as it prepares its 2026 report on the risks and benefits to health associated with non-device software functions, including their impact on patient safety and related best practices. Stakeholders have only about one month to submit comments, which are due by August 13, 2026, under Docket No. FDA-2018-N-1910. FDA’s 2026 report will update the findings of its December 2024 Report on Risks and Benefits to Health of …
    Continue Reading FDA Requests Input on Non-Device Software Functions and Patient Safety; Brief Comment Period Now Open

    On April 30, 2026, at the Health Care Compliance Association’s 2026 Compliance Institute, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) introduced its updated Corporate Integrity Agreement (“CIA”) template, using the Kinex Medical Company CIA as its model. The updated template retains the core elements of an effective compliance program while introducing significant enhancements that reflect OIG’s evolving compliance expectations.
    Evolution of Corporate Integrity Agreements and Compliance Program Requirements
    The new CIA template introduces…
    Continue Reading OIG’s New CIA Template Enhances Compliance Obligations for Health Care Organizations

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 26-15 addressing a subscription-based referral management software platform used during hospital discharge planning. OIG concluded that, under the facts presented, the arrangement could generate prohibited remuneration under the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) because providers paying subscription fees received a competitive advantage in obtaining referrals for federally reimbursable services.

    Although advisory opinions apply only to the requesting parties, Advisory Opinion 26-15 reflects OIG’s…
    Continue Reading Post Acute Update: HHS-OIG Issues Unfavorable Advisory Opinion on Subscription-Based Referral Management Software

  • Williamson Health’s (Franklin, TN) Board of Trustees has voted to sell the county-owned health system to Ascension. The total value of the deal is over $950M, including a $700M purchase price and over $250M in commitments for facility improvements, electronic health records and other strategic projects. The deal remains subject to approval by the Williamson County Commissioners.
  • Bridgepoint Group will acquire the operations of Kayne Anderson Real Estate for $1.4B, with the deal expected to close by the end of 2026. Kayne

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: Ascension to Purchase Williamson Health for $950M | Bridgepoint to Acquire Kayne Anderson for $1.4B | Hospitals Increase MOB Transactions in 2026

    By | Elder Law
    July 8, 2026

    One of the most common concerns families face when discussing long-term care is cost. Whether care is provided at home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home, long-term care expenses can become significant very quickly.

    In Wisconsin, nursing home care can cost thousands of dollars each month, and even part-time in-home assistance may create substantial financial strain over time. Because Medicare coverage for long-term care is…
    Continue Reading How Much Does Long-Term Care Cost and How Do I Pay for It?

    The results of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown (the “Takedown”) were announced on June 23, 2026; the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) charged 455 individuals in connection with alleged health care fraud schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims. Ninety of the charged individuals were physicians or other medical professionals.

    The Takedown, dating back to 2007, is conducted annually by DOJ, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), the Federal Bureau…
    Continue Reading DOJ’s Continued Focus on Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Produces $6.5 Billion Health Care Fraud Takedown

    Earlier this year, Congress enacted Section 6225 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (“CAA”), establishing a new Medicare condition of payment for off-campus hospital outpatient departments beginning January 1, 2028. As discussed in our prior alerts (here and here), the statute generally prohibits Medicare payment for services furnished by an off-campus hospital outpatient department unless the department bills under a separate National Provider Identifier (“NPI”) assigned to that off-campus department, the hospital submits an initial provider-based attestation…
    Continue Reading Mandatory Provider-Based Attestations Are Taking Shape: CMS Releases Proposed Implementation Framework

    New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (“MAID Act”), introduced in the New York Senate in January 2025 and amended, in part, by the State Assembly in February 2026, will take effect on August 5, 2026, creating a new statutory pathway for qualifying terminally ill adults to request and self-administer medication to end their lives. The MAID Act is part of a broader national trend toward laws commonly referred to as “death with dignity” or “physician-assisted dying” laws.

    The…
    Continue Reading Preparing for New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act: Compliance Considerations for a Growing State-Law Trend

    On Monday, June 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced Operation TrialBlazer, a coordinated department-wide initiative aimed at promoting clinical research leadership and engagement in the United States. The initiative emphasizes the growth of early-stage clinical research overseas, with HHS acknowledging the threat to “America’s position as a global leader.” See Operation TrialBlazer, HHS Roadmap to Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Early Clinical Research and Development, Executive Summary p. 2-3.

    HHS indicated that Operation TrialBlazer…
    Continue Reading HHS’s Operation TrialBlazer

    Buried in the July 1, 2026, proposed rule for the Home Health Prospective Payment System (“Proposed Rule”), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) proposed changes to provider enrollment and a provider’s ability to obtain and maintain Medicare billing privileges. Notably, the changes to provider enrollment regulations at 42 CFR Part 424, Subpart P affect every Medicare-enrolled provider and supplier.
    Revocation and Denial Updates Applicable to All Medicare Providers and Suppliers
    CMS is proposing several provider enrollment provisions…
    Continue Reading CMS Proposes Significant Changes Impacting Provider Enrollment Including Provider/Supplier Billing Privileges

    Following a series of hospital sale-leaseback transactions that preceded bankruptcy filings in 2024 and 2025, lawmakers at both the federal and state levels have taken notice. In response, legislators have introduced measures aimed at regulating, or increasing oversight of, certain health care real estate transactions.

    These efforts seek to protect community hospitals from transactions that may weaken their finances, shift disproportionate value to private-sector investors or jeopardize access to essential services by saddling providers with long-term lease obligations.

    As…
    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: A Flurry of Legislation Restricting Hospital Real Estate Transactions – What You Need to Know

    In two recent civil antitrust complaints, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) alleged that hospital systems used payer contracting provisions—so‑called steering restrictions that require hospitals to be included in nearly all of an insurer’s commercial networks at the most favored level of benefits—to restrict health insurers’ ability to offer narrow network plans, tiered network plans or other insurance plans that give its members financial incentives to use specific network providers. DOJ brought these actions under…
    Continue Reading OhioHealth Settlement Signals Growing Antitrust Risk in Managed Care Contracting

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) has issued a meaningful Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking stakeholder input on potential new or modified Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) regulatory safe harbors and Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalty (“CMP”) exceptions for remuneration to clinical trial participants. The RFI was published as part of HHS’s Operation TrialBlazer, a coordinated department-wide initiative aimed at promoting clinical research leadership and engagement in the United States, including a push…
    Continue Reading OIG Issues RFI on Anti-Kickback Statute Safe Harbors for Clinical Trial Participant Remuneration – Comments Due August 24, 2026