Alan C. Horowitz
Alan C. Horowitz, Esq., is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, where he focuses his legal practice on regulatory compliance for skilled nursing homes, hospices and home health agencies and manages cases where the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has imposed an enforcement action. He is a former assistant regional counsel Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As counsel to CMS, he was involved with hundreds of enforcement actions and successfully handled appeals before administrative law judges, the HHS Departmental Appeal Board and in federal court. He also has clinical healthcare experience as a registered respiratory therapist and registered nurse. He can be reached at alan.horowitz@agg.com.
Medical directors: Key to quality care
A nursing home's medical director bears the greatest ultimate responsibility for ensuring that residents receive quality care. Find out what is required of facilities when it comes to this position. Read More » Challenging surveys
Deficiencies and enforcement actions don't always have to be accepted without a challenge. Long-Term Living's legal expert, Alan Horowitz, explains the steps to appealing state survey deficiency reports. Read More » OIG slams HHS Office of Civil Rights on HIPAA security oversight
The Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights gets a stern dressing down from the OIG for failure to provide proper oversight on HIPAA security issues. Read More » OIG to CMS: Add hospitalization rates to nursing home quality ratings and surveys
The Office of Inspector General wants hospitalization rates to be added to CMS's nursing home quality rankings. But will the numbers tell the real story or just muddy the waters? Read More » Medication errors: Prescriptions for safety
Diligent strategies to avoid medication errors can improve resident care and reduce business risk. Read More » Legal blog: CMS’ revision of sprinkler enforcement
Healthcare attorney Alan C. Horowitz explains the background to the latest revisions to the CMS compliance rules on fire sprinklers in skilled nursing facilities. Read More » Court of Appeals agrees with SNF, reverses HHS
Were the residents' eggs served runny or undercooked? Ambiguity in language convinces an Appeals Court to reverse a noncompliance ruling in a recent case where CMS had accused a nursing home of poor food preparation. Read More » Proposed rule extends deadline for SNF sprinkler systems
On August 13, 2008, CMS published a final rule requiring all long-term care facilities to have automatic sprinkler systems installed throughout the facility. The deadline for compliance with the new regulatory requirement is August 13, 2013. On February 7, CMS issued a proposed rule that would extend the August 13, 2013 deadline. Read More » Inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs lands former DON in prison, others plead ‘no contest’
The use of psychotropic drugs in long-term care is a significant issue that every facility deals with. This article examines a highly unusual case and also suggests what nursing facilities can expect from government regulators. Read More » 