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As required by the HITECH Act, on August 19, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued the 121-page Interim Final Rule for Breach Notification for Unsecure Protected Health Information. This memo summarizes the major requirements and highlights some of HHS’ commentary on interpreting the Rule.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Titles XIII and XIV of the ARRA legislation) aims to further the use of information technology in health care and expand the reach and requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a "restatement and clarification" to its existing policy regarding physician supervision for hospital outpatient therapeutic services. It's time to take a closer look and describe the potential impact on hospitals throughout the country.
Does your organization have an adequate compliance program? Are there potential risks present in the program? Are there opportunities for improvement? Most organizations would say yes to all of these questions, and yet many struggle with how to identify potential risks and opportunities for improvement within their compliance program.
A Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) is asking your organization for medical records to review and determine whether improper Medicare payments have been made. An inspector from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has come to verify that your organization is preserving the privacy of your patients. The IRS just called and is taking a closer look at your recently completed Form 990. Are you prepared?
Every year, more than 500,000 tax-exempt organizations throughout the country file a version of Form 990, the Return of Organizations Exempt from Income Tax, with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This year, many organizations submitting the form will be completing a new version that has been redesigned and retooled to enhance transparency, promote tax compliance, and - in theory - minimize the burden on filing organizations.
Although it has been a full year since the demonstration of the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program completed, there are still many questions about the process going forward. How many records will be requested? How many claims will result? Who should manage those claims? How should organizations navigate the appeal process? We asked a provider that has been through the experience those very questions.
To help address the issue of identity theft, the FTC recently created the Red Flags Rules. Developed pursuant to a legislative mandate contained in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003, these rules require financial institutions and creditors to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs, which provide for the identification, detection, and response to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” - that could indicate identity theft.
Health care organizations, because of their complexity and the severity of illnesses among the patients they treat, are full of patient safety concerns, and every health care organization that wants to provide high quality and efficient care, must carefully examine those concerns and address them.
Since privacy rules have been implemented, the rate of privacy complaints has increased nearly ever year. Find out how to deal with these costly and time consuming events, or better yet, avoid them in the first place.
Learn the details of how a RAC audit works and where the program is headed.
For the past several years, hospitals, government agencies, accrediting bodies, and patient safety organizations throughout the country have been working together to reduce the number of hospital-acquired conditions and improve the quality of care provided to patients. Learn the best practices for POA reporting.