United States: Outsourcing Ambulatory And Outpatient Services: What Hospitals Need To Know

We are in the midst of a trend involving the “outsourcing” of certain outpatient and ambulatory services by hospitals and health systems. These outsourcing transactions often involve partnerships with for-profit, specialty  providers, such as imaging, ambulatory surgery, home health and hospice, physical therapy or urgent care businesses—partners with focused expertise—designed to enhance service offerings to hospital outpatients. These partnerships allow hospitals to focus on what they do best—inpatient care—while at the same time freeing […]

By | October 29th, 2014 ||

Canada: OH&S Month Part 2: Unsafe Work Refusals, Now Narrower For Federal Workers

In every jurisdiction in Canada, employees and employers share the responsibility for ensuring a safe and healthy work environment. In British Columbia, employers are required by the Workers Compensation Act [WCA], to ensure the health and safety of their employees and others working at their work place, which includes investigating safety risks and advising employees of same, and taking steps to eliminate or mitigate identified risks. Likewise, employees have obligations to protect their own […]

By | October 28th, 2014 ||

United States: Seminal Decision Could Make It Harder For Publicly Traded Employers To Defeat Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Claims

Long awaited in Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower circles, on October 9, 2014 the U. S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) issued a split 2-1 panel decision in Fordham v. Fannie Mae, ARB No. 12-061, reversing in part and remanding an administrative law judge’s post-hearing dismissal of a former employee’s Section 806 whistleblower retaliation claim. The ARB’s decision in Fordham is significant because it addresses squarely, and at length, how ALJs and OSHA […]

By | October 28th, 2014 ||