Parsonage Vandenack Williams, LLCReviewing Procedures for Breach of PHI

Reviewing Procedures for Breach of PHI

Jelson Bonilla — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:18:55 +0000

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 towards preventing breaches, but it is a good idea to review procedures in case a PHI breach should occurs.

When a breach occurs, first gather information. Determine what type of PHI was disclosed, who accessed it without authorization, and the number of patients exposed.
Next, make every attempt to mitigate the damage. Can you ensure that the breached PHI has been destroyed or will be returned?
Third, provide the necessary notifications. Patients must be notified no later than 60 days from when your practice knew or reasonably should have known of the breach. To help expedite the notification process, make sure that your patient contact information remains current.
Finally, review your practice’s compliance plan, training schedules, and access to PHI to help prevent a similar breach from occurring again.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

E-Prescribing Deadline Reminder

pvwlaw — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:55:12 +0000

June 30, 2012 is the deadline for physicians to report on at least 10 electronic scripts in order to avoid the 2013 Medicare e-prescribing program penalty. Physicians who are not able to meet the requirements of the program should apply for a hardship exemption applicable to their specific situation before the June 30, 2012 deadline.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

Understanding the Nebraska Use Tax

pvwlaw — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:21:22 +0000

A required tax that is often overlooked by both businesses and individuals is the Nebraska consumer’s use tax. The use tax is a complement to the state and local sales tax. Sales tax is collected and remitted by the seller or provider of goods, services, and other transactions that occur in Nebraska. Use tax, on the other hand, is generally remitted to the Nebraska Department of Revenue by the purchaser of taxable transactions where no sales tax is collected. Common scenarios where the use tax applies are:

Items purchased on the Internet without payment of Nebraska sales tax;
Items purchased out-of-state and delivered to a home or business in Nebraska without payment of Nebraska sales tax;
Items or taxable services purchased in Nebraska without payment of appropriate sales tax.

Use tax generally does not apply when Nebraska sales tax has been paid, when the transaction is exempt from sales tax, or for transactions where sales tax has been properly paid in another state.

Businesses can register for the use tax by filing Nebraska Tax Application Form 20. Businesses can then report use tax by filing either “Nebraska and Local Sales and Use Tax Return, Form 10” or “Nebraska and Local Consumer’s Use Tax Return, Form 2.” Individuals must report and pay use tax by filing “Nebraska and Local Individual Consumer’s Use Tax Return, Form 3.” The filing frequency can be monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the entity or individual’s annual use tax liability.

Given that the use tax is a self-reporting tax, it is often easy to ignore. Penalties exist, however, for failing to timely file a use tax return. Additionally, interest accrues on all unpaid use taxes. Due to the growing market of online vendors selling goods without collecting sales tax, states are increasing efforts to enforce the use tax.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

Employer Tips for Complying with GINA

pvwlaw — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:12:47 +0000

Since laws prohibiting discrimination based on age, race, and gender receive most of the attention, it is easy to overlook similar laws that prevent discrimination based off genetic information. The federal law commonly known as “GINA” and its corresponding state laws combine to prohibit employers from using genetic information to make decisions in hiring, firing, promoting, pay, privileges or terms of employment. Genetic information includes all information relating to genetic tests of the employee and the employee’s family members, as well as information about diseases or disorders in the individual’s family medical history. An employer can take several precautions to avoid violating these laws, including updating its company’s discrimination policies, examining employment forms for certain prohibited questions, and using cautionary language when talking to employees about their health.

For an expanded article on tips for complying with GINA, please click here .

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

Should You Consider Concierge Medicine?

pvwlaw — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:49:50 +0000

Many people assume that concierge medical services are only for very wealthy individuals. But the concierge model actually includes a wide range of services and often costs much less than what you might think.

In the concierge model, patients pay their primary care physicians a retainer in return for basic services and enhanced care. A growing number of physicians have started concierge medical practices in order to retain their individual practices. For some physicians, the flat fee retainers are their sole source of income. Other physicians continue to accept insurance and use their concierge patients' retainers as supplementary fees.

The advantages to patients of concierge medicine vary from practice to practice, but can include more personal attention, house calls and even the doctor's cell phone number for 24-hour access.

The advantages to physicians of concierge medicine include the ability to provide enhanced services to patients and to retain control over the costs of providing such services. Many physicians practicing concierge medicine claim a deeper engagement with their patients and greater sense of satisfaction with their practice.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

ICD-10 To Be Pushed Back

pvwlaw — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:24:27 +0000

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) has announced a proposed rule that would extend the deadline for healthcare providers to implement the new ICD-10 diagnosis coding system. The proposed rule moves the ICD-10 deadline from October 1, 2013, to October 1, 2014. The announcement of the proposed rule follows an earlier statement in February 2012 that DHHS was considering postponing the ICD-10 compliance date.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

Stage 2 Proposed Rules Published

pvwlaw — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:58:27 +0000

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 Information Technology (“ONC”) has also issued Stage 2 certification standards. The ONC standards establish the technical requirements that electronic health records (“EHR”) must meet to become certified as supporting Stage 2 meaningful use criteria.

Basically, the CMS proposed rule governs the requirements that providers must meet in order to qualify for meaningful use and successfully obtain EHR incentive payments. The ONC certification standards govern the requirements that EHR must meet so that such EHR can be used by providers to qualify for meaningful use.

Stage 2 of the Program is set to begin no earlier than 2014 (for participants who met the Stage 1 requirements in 2011 or 2012). Comments on both proposed rules are due by 5:00 p.m. on May 7, 2012.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

New Commission Formed to Analyze Physician Payments

pvwlaw — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:21:40 +0000

The National Commission on Physician Payment Reform has been established by the Society of General Internal Medicine to make recommendations about physician payments. The commission will meet over the next year to look at how doctors are paid, and to analyze how accountable care organizations, medical homes and other arrangements will affect healthcare financing.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California HealthCare Foundation and the Sergei S. Zinkoff Fund for Medical Education and Research will provide funding for the commission, according to Family Practice News.

The commission plans to issue its own report on reforming the healthcare payment system by early 2013.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

New Rules Increase Incentives to Join an ACO

pvwlaw — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:07:46 +0000

Physicians can now participate in an accountable care organization (“ACO”) without facing financial penalties for failing to achieve savings targets. This new rule is among several released by CMS designed to increase the incentives for hospitals and physicians to join an ACO. Other new rules include lowering the requirement of participants in an ACO to use electronic health records and a reduction in the number of quality measures.

While ACOs are designed to reward health care providers for providing quality care at cost-efficient rates, many providers were reluctant to embrace the system because of worries about the risks of penalties. CMS hopes these new incentives will reduce such fears and encourage physicians and other health care providers to pursue ACO participation.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com

Reminder that Billing Provider Must Document History of Present Illness

pvwlaw — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:03:28 +0000

CMS has made clear that the billing provider, and not a medical assistant, must personally document the patient’s history of the present illness (“HPI”). The HPI includes the quality, severity, duration, timing, context, and associated signs and symptoms of the patient’s current health complaints. The HPI does not include the patient’s past, family, and social history. A medical assistant may document the patient’s past, family, and social history as long as the billing provider subsequently reviews such information.

For more information, contact info@pvwlaw.com