McBrayer Newsletter- Issue 1, 2011- THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT

January 2011
Volume 1, Issue 1

In This Issue

Are Your Employees Tweeting Their Time Away?

ACO's: An Alternative to Employment by a Hospital?

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Are Your Employees Tweeting Their Time Away?
M.D. Update, November 2010

Authored by: Lisa English Hinkle

With Contributions by Molly Nicol Lewis and Gina M. Riddell

Facebook reports that over 500 million individuals are users with half of them logging onto Facebook on any given day. Twitter reports 145 million users worldwide and has become such a part of modern culture that the Library of Congress, "the 210 year old guardian of modern of knowledge and cultural history," thinks that "tweets"now constitute part of "the universal body of human knowledge." The prevalence and growth in social networking sites is phenomenal. Any employer that uses the Internet in its day to day business should expect that its employees are accessing social networking sites, probably on a daily basis if not more often during....READ FULL ARTICLE.

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Even though the content in the McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland newsletter is primarily informative, state and federal law obligates us to inform you that THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT. You have received this advisory because you are a client or friend of the firm.

About McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC

MCBRAYER, MCGINNIS, LESLIE & KIRKLAND, PLLC is a general practice law firm with offices in Lexington, Louisville, Frankfort and Greenup, Kentucky with 45 highly experienced attorneys offering full legal services. At McBrayer, we have been meeting and exceeding the legal needs of our clients since 1963 and are proud members of the State Capital Law Firm Group. For more information about our attorneys, our offices and our areas of practice, please visit us at www.mmlk.com

ACO's: An Alternative to Employment by a Hospital?

M.D. Update, January 2011

Authored by: Lisa English Hinkle

With a backdrop of rising health care costs, 50 million uninsured Americans, and a health care system that spends more per person but has lower quality than 37 other developed countries, Congress passed a comprehensive health care reform law with the vision of doctors and hospitals joining forces, coordinating care to hold down costs for the prospect of earning government bonuses for controlling cost. While no one can foresee exactly how all the provisions of the new law will mesh with the current system, four of Kentucky's largest hospital systems are negotiating mergers and many of the smaller systems are buying up other providers or seeking to enter into controlling management arrangements. Not only are hospitals creating new healthcare systems, physicians and their groups are increasingly looking to hospitals as employers. It is a buyers market for hospitals with the financial reserves to buy physician practices, but not every physician practice can be bought by a hospital nor does every physician want to be employed by a hopsital. While this activity is being driven by decreases in reimbursement, it is also a product of the new health reform law, which encourages providers to create integrated health care delivery systems that can improve the quality of health care services and lower health care costs. Accountable Care Organization ("ACO") are the vehicles through which shared savings are to be passed along when certain quality performance standards are met. Hospitals and physicians must find ways other than employment relationships to align themselves as ACO's.

The health reform law establishes a Medicare shared savings program for ACO's that is to take effect no later than January 2012. This is not a demonstration project; the law makes contracts with ACO's a permanent option under Medicare. Because the Health Reform ACT left most of the details about what an ACO is supposed to look like to the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("HHS") and the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), industry is eagerly awaiting the implementing regulations that will impact how ACO's are structured and how they ultimately function. Complicating the scenario is the fact....READ FULL ARTICLE
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McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC Firm News

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Court Appointed Special Advoates (CASA) and McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC teamed up for the annual CASA Angel Tree campaign to collect gifts for abused/neglected children. CASAs are unique. Unlike lawyers and social workers, who are required to consider the parents' or family's best interest, CASA focuses solely on what is best for the child or children. One of the goals of CASA is to minimize these changes both by providing continual monitoring and advocacy for the child, and by being a stable and constant person in the child's life. With the efforts of CASA and McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC more than 80 children received a blessed holiday seaon.

In the spirit of the holiday season, McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC made a donation in honor of our clients to CASA of Lexington, Inc. The work of the CASA advocates has touched many in our community, as well as our own, and we thank CASA for advocating on behalf of the children of Lexington in the Family Court System due to abuse, neglect and/or dependency.

Ryan Colleen Daugherty, Associate in our Lexington Office, has been elected to the U.S. Green Building Council's Board of Directors.

W. Chapman Hopkins, Associate in our Lexington Office, has been selected as a member of the Lexington Charity Club and the Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association.

Preston Clark Worley, Associate in our Lexington Office, has been selected as a member of the Lexington Charity Club.

McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC is pleased to announce that Robert T. Watson has been admitted as a member of the firm and that Chris J. Gadansky has joined the firm as an associate. Both will be practicing in the firm's Louisville office where Mr. Watson will serve as Partner in Charge. Mr. Watson and Mr. Gadansky focus their practice in insurance defense, civil rights, municipal law, civil litigation, real estate, and corporate law.

McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC is pleased to announce that Mary M. Campbell has been named as the newest member of its paralegal team. Mary will focus her work on administrative law and litigation support. She wil practice in the firm's Lexington office.

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PUBLICATIONS

Christopher J. Shaughnessy, Associate in our Lexington Office, authored an article in the Medical News Special Legislative Issue entitled On The Enforcement Radar: The 2011 OIG Work Plan. To read the full article please click here.

Lisa English Hinkle, Partner in our Lexington Office, and Molly Nicole Lewis, Associate in our Lexington Office, authored an article in Kentuckydoc December 2010-January 2011, Volume 2, Issue 5 entitled Have You Googled Yourself Recently?: What You Need To Know About Managing Your Reputation Online. To read the full article please click here.
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