HIPAA

New HIPAA Rules Fortify Patient Privacy

By Kathleen Struck, Senior Editor, MedPage Today Addressing 15 years of digital advances in health record information, the Department of Health and Human Services released stronger rules and protections governing patient privacy last week. The long-awaited rules enhance the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which governs health records and patient information.…

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Vast cache of Kaiser patient details was kept in private home

The case of Kaiser and Sure File Filing Systems underscores how patient information remains vulnerable in the hands of healthcare providers and outside contractors. By Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times Federal and state officials are investigating whether healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente violated patient privacy in its work with an Indio couple who stored nearly 300,000…

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Leapfrog’s New Safety Report Card Alarms Hospitals

by Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media Some 25 hospitals, including 520-bed Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, received a failing grade of F, while another 121 hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic, got a barely passing D in the release today of the controversial Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Score, an effort to inform patients…

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Safeguarding Patient Data in EHRs

From SmartData Collective A recent blog by the HIPAA, HITECH & HIT legal blog of Fox Rothschild revealed a survey administered by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS). The EHR (electronic health record) technology questionnaire is part of a study on fraud and abuse safeguards…

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Medicare Is Faulted on Shift to Electronic Records

By REED ABELSON for The New York Times The conversion to electronic medical records — a critical piece of the Obama administration’s plan for health care reform — is “vulnerable” to fraud and abuse because of the failure of Medicare officials to develop appropriate safeguards, according to a sharply critical report to be issued Thursday…

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Conflict of interest alleged in UnitedHealth Group

By Alexander Bolton for The Hill The Obama administration is relying heavily on outside contractors to implement a core component of healthcare reform as it races to set up a federal health insurance marketplace before 2014. The fast-approaching deadline gives the administration little time to scrutinize private-sector partners for conflicts of interest. The purchase of…

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Continuing Connectivity Struggles Lead to Declining Satisfaction Scores for HIE Vendors

Press Release found at Digital Journal OREM, UT, November 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — Across the health information exchange (HIE) market, providers are expressing dissatisfaction with their vendors as connectivity issues persist. This and other key findings were released in a new KLAS report “Health Information Exchange 2012: Muddled in Interfaces.” More than 200 providers weighed…

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12 Key Issues Hospitals Will Face in 2013

By Molly Gamble for Becker’s Hospital Review In an Oct. 17 webinar presented by Becker’s Hospital Review, Scott Becker, JD, CPA, a partner at McGuireWoods in Chicago and publisher of Becker’s Hospital Review, commented on a dozen of the most pressing issues facing hospitals and health systems today. 1. Hospital-hospital consolidation. As hospitals continue to…

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Voice Recognition in the ED

By John DeGaspari for Healthcare Informatics Why one hospital complemented its EHR implementation with voice recognition How does voice recognition technology affect patient care quality and efficiency? One proponent for its use is Bud Lawrence, M.D., emergency medicine physician director of risk management at the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, a 250-bed hospital and level-2…

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EHR implementation: How common blunders can alienate your patients

By Pamela Lewis Dolan for amednews.com (American Medical News) Many snafus associated with EHR implementation have little to do with the technology but rather how it is prepared before adoption and ultimately used. When Genesis Ob/Gyn took the first steps to installing an electronic health record system in its seven practices, there was a lot…

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