November 2003 News Archives

November 14, 2003 Privacy of Dead Perplexes Living The Baltimore Sun reports two national associations of researchers and historians wrote a joint letter last month to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson asking for clarification on whether the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to the memos, notes, and photos in the medical records of the long dead. The Society of American Archivists, and Archivists and Librarians in the History of the Health Sciences worry that the privacy rule might restrict the telling of history. "Because of the general uncertainty about the meaning of the privacy rule provisions, many of our most important sources in the history of medicine and the allied sciences may be closed for research use," the letter said.

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November 13, 2003 VA Launches Health Portal Including Online Health Record Federal Computer Week reports veterans have a new resource for up-to-date information about medications and health news with the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) launch of the My HealtheVet portal. Veterans can use the site to reorder VA prescriptions, view appointments, maintain a personal health log and review VA information online. "My HealtheVet will provide a focal point...to begin to build an online health record," said the VA's undersecretary for health, Robert Roswell.

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November 13, 2003 Liberty Alliance Releases Privacy & Security Best Practices The Liberty Alliance Project, an industry standards body, has released guidelines on how to ensure that online credentialing systems meet privacy laws. The “Privacy and Security Best Practices” document offers information regarding US and European privacy laws, such as HIPAA and the European Union Privacy Directive, and fair information practices in various sectors, specific suggestions on securing common network vulnerabilities, and the Alliance’s recommendations regarding privacy and security.

View the Liberty Alliance's Privacy & Security Best Practices (PDF).

November 11, 2003 OCR Releases New FAQs on Disclosures & Sharing PHI The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), charged with enforcing the Privacy Rule, recently posted to their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), answers to new questions regarding facility directories and disclosures to family and friends, and sharing patient health information (PHI) for treatment. To view OCR's Privacy FAQs, as well as FAQs on other HIPAA rules, go to our HIPAAFAQ section.

November 6, 2003 NCVHS Recommends Adoption of ICD-10 Codes; BC/BS Estimates High Costs The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) today approved a draft letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommending the national adoption of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). In a letter earlier today, the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) encouraged NCVHS to urge HHS to quickly issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to replace ICD-9 with ICD-10.

According to a report commissioned by the BlueCross BlueShield Association (BC/BS), however, moving to ICD-10 would require a massive updating of information systems. In addition to the implementation cost estimated to be as much as $14 billion, the report also warned of payment delays caused by slow or erroneous coding.

Read the AHA-FAH letter (PDF).

Read Health-IT World's article, "BC/BS Report Hits Costs on Proposed ICD-10 Codes."

November 5, 2003 GAO Looks at Healthcare IT Benefits & Savings Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), asked the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to identify cost savings and other benefits realized by healthcare organizations that have implemented information technology (IT). The GAO identified examples of IT initiatives that resulted in reported
cost savings or other benefits. A teaching hospital realized about $8.6 million in annual savings by replacing paper medical charts with electronic medical records (EMRs). A community hospital prevented the administration of thousands of wrong drugs or dosages by using bar code technology and wireless scanners to verify both the identities of patients and their correct medications, saving almost $850,000. Most organizations also reported lessons learned, such as the importance of reengineering business processes, gaining users’ acceptance of IT, providing adequate training, and making systems secure.

View the report (1.67 MB PDF).

November 3, 2003 Standard Electronic Referral Note Nears Vote Health Data Management reports the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) last summer formed the Continuity of Care Record project to develop a national standard for an electronic document to facilitate treatment of patients referred to other physicians. The standard record would include a patient's relevant past history, allergies, medications and a short care plan. This month, a subcommittee of ASTM's E31 Committee on Healthcare Informatics will be completing the standard for balloting.

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