Use this guide to help understand the laws and regulations that apply to health care businesses and the health care industry.

Click on one of the following links to jump to that section of the page:

• Antitrust

• Environmental Compliance

• Eye Care

• Facilities Management

• HIPAA

• Mammography Services

• Medical Device Reporting

• Medical Practitioners

• Medicare & Medicaid

• Taxes

• Workplace Health & Safety

Antitrust

• Competition in the Health Care Marketplace
  Lists frequently asked advertising questions, compliance guides, fact sheets, policy statements, and staff comments on various advertising issues.

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Environmental Compliance

• Environmental Compliance Assistance Guide for Hospitals
  Provides links to available checklists, guidance documents, websites, hotlines, and other compliance assistance tools that were developed to help hospitals comply with federal environmental requirements.

• Workshop Presentations for Hospital Environmental Staff
  Links to presentations made at seminars covering the hospital and healthcare facility compliance with environmental regulations.

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Eye Care

• Contact Lens Rule: A Guide for Prescribers and Sellers
  Offers a fact sheet as a guide for prescribers and sellers of contact lens.

• Marketing of Refractive Eye Care Surgery: Guidance for Eye Care Providers
  Explains a policy statement that provides guidance to eye care providers that market their professional services.

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Facilities Management

• Energy Solutions for Health Care Facilities
  Explains how the Department of Energy provides a building design guide for reducing energy and maintenance costs.

• FHA Mortgage Insurance for Hospitals
  Describes the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which helps hospitals access affordable financing for capital projects. Find information on the application process and minimum eligibility requirements.

• Mortgage Insurance for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities
  Covers Section 232, which insures mortgage loans to facilitate the construction and substantial rehabilitation of nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, board and care homes, and assisted-living facilities.

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HIPAA

• HIPAA: Frequently Asked Questions
  Lists questions and answers about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to provide new rights and responsibilities for participants and beneficiaries in group health plans, especially when changing jobs or losing health coverage.

• HIPAA Guide for Small Providers, Small Health Plans and Small Businesses
  Offers a guide to HIPAA privacy rule resources useful to small entities.

• HIPAA Web Portal
  Gives a one-stop resource for finding regulatory guidance concerning national standards for protecting the privacy of personal health information.

• Health Insurance Reform Information for Employers
  Provides information on HIPAA and health insurance reform for employers.

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Mammography Services

• Mammography Facility Certification and Inspection
  Details information for mammography facility personnel, inspectors, and consumers about the implementation of the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 (MQSA).

• Quality Standards Compliance for Mammography Facilities
  Offers a brief overview of the Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) certification requirements for all health care facilities providing mammography services.

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Medical Device Reporting

• Medical Device Reporting for User Facilities
  Explains how under the Safety Medical Devices Act, health care facilities must report deaths and serious injuries caused by a medical device to the FDA and device manufacturer. This guide provides comprehensive information on how to comply with reporting requirements.

• Nursing Homes: Applying the Safe Medical Devices Act
  Gives a fact sheet describing requirements for nursing homes to report deaths and injuries caused by the use of medical devices.

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Medical Practitioners

• National Practitioner Data Bank
  Assists covered entities to comply with legal requirement to report health professional malpractice and disciplinary actions and to query data bank when hiring or granting privileges.

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Medicare & Medicaid

• Certification and Compliance, Medicare and Medicaid
  Explains how suppliers and providers of Medicare and Medicaid programs must meet minimum health and safety standards.

• Medicare Coordination of Benefits: Employer Services
  Details how employers must provide the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with information regarding health coverage of their Medicare-eligible workers and spouses of Medicare-eligible individuals whenever CMS identifies those individuals to the employer.

• Medicare Survey and Certification: Guidance to Laws and Regulations
  Provides information on the standards used to survey the quality of operations of health care facilities.

• Medicare and Medicaid Providers' Portal
  Enables visitors to browse regulatory guidance by specific type of health care facility or provider.

• Medicare/Medicaid Conditions of Participation and Conditions of Coverage for Health Care Organizations
  Lists Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Conditions for Coverage (CfCs) that health care organizations must meet in order to begin and continue participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

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Taxes

• Health Care Provider Tax Reference Guide
  Provides an introduction to and aid in the processing of IRC 501(c)(3) exemption applications submitted by health care providers, including issues to keep in mind in evaluating whether activities that promote health are also charitable.

• Tax-Exempt Hospitals, Compliance Check Questionnaire
  Covers the Internal Revenue Service's Form 13790, which is used to determine tax-exempt status for hospitals.

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Workplace Health & Safety

• Health Care Facilities Workplace Health and Safety Guide
  Offers OSHA's guide to occupational safety and health regulations affecting all types of healthcare facilities.

• OSHA eTool: Hospital
  Provides an eTool that focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

• OSHA eTool: Nursing Home
  Provides an eTool designed to help nursing home employers identify and address potential occupational hazards in the nursing home industry. This is done through a comprehensive safety and health management program approach. It includes modules on: blood borne pathogens; ergonomics; machine guarding; personal protective equipment; workplace violence; and an OSHA technical manual.

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