Electronic Health Care Records
Reviewing Procedures for Breach of PHI
Despite clear compliance plans, annual training, and limiting access, there is still a chance your practice could experience a breach of protected health information (“PHI”). A “breach” means the use or disclosure of unprotected information that is not permitted by HIPAA and compromises the security and/or privacy of the PHI. Most practices allocate considerable resources… Read More »
Stage 2 Proposed Rules Published
CMS has published a proposed rule providing standards and guidance for Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (the “Program”). The CMS proposed rule explains the requirements that eligible professionals and hospitals must meet to qualify for meaningful use incentive payments under the Program. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health… Read More »
4 Meaningful Use Tips for Physicians
The concept of meaningful use is key to earning federal electronic health records (“EHR”) incentives. The following are four tips to keep in mind when working towards meeting meaningful use criteria: 1. Track Progress. Many meaningful use measures establish a threshold that must be reached. Use “to do” lists and progress charts to track progress… Read More »
Reminder to Physicians: Meaningful Use Checks are Arriving
On May 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) mailed the first checks for the Medicare incentive program to physicians who had attested that they had achieved meaningful use of their electronic health records (EHRs). EHR incentive payments are also available to eligible professionals from state Medicaid programs. However, the Medicaid program has… Read More »
56 Organizations Agree on Priorities for “Meaningful Use” Program
According to recommendations from a large collaboration of organizations, the success of the new federal incentives program for health information technology (“HIT”) largely depends on a specific set of health improvement goals, a prioritized set of metrics, and the widespread participation of health care providers and patients. Health care leaders from 56 different organizations filed… Read More »
CMS ANNOUNCES IT WILL DISCONTINUE PHASE II OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS DEMONSTRATION
On April 7, 2009 CMS announced that, as a result of the incentive provisions for physicians to encourage the adoption of health information technology in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”), CMS will change its plans for implementing the electronic health records (“HER”) Demonstration. CMS will continue implementation of Phase I… Read More »
Provider Information: Steps to Take to Prevent Incidents of Medical Identity Theft
Health care providers need to implement approaches to detect, prevent and respond to medical identity theft incidents. No single solution applies to all providers because of each provider’s unique size, overhead and available resources. Therefore, providers should implement a variety of techniques, including patient authentication, training and awareness, and risk assessment. Providers should especially be… Read More »
Portable Devices Pose Challenges to Protecting Patient Privacy
Covered entities (“CEs”) need to be aware that their wireless networks and portable devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys are not necessarily secure. Almost twelve people have been charged with various counts of computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft, among other charges, for participating in a crime ring that allegedly hacked into nine major retailers’… Read More »
Compliance Risks Escalate with the Use of Electronic Medical Records Systems
Health care providers truly appreciate electronic medical record (“EMR”) templates because they make documentation faster and easier. However, abuses such a cloning and “exploding” notes are putting reimbursement and compliance at risk. If too much information is replicated from one EMR to the next, there is very little to distinguish patient encounters, which undermines physician… Read More »
