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September 2004 News ArchivesSeptember 27, 2004 White Paper: Patient ID Big Records Hurdle The challenge of identifying the patient may be the most significant one that faces a national electronic medical records initiative, according to a new white paper from Capgemini. That's because a national patient identifier, which would vastly ease creation of a national health information system with sharable electronic records, might not be politically possible due to opposition in Congress and the lack of industry consensus on an identifier, reports Health Data Management. September 27, 2004 JAMA Debates Genetic Testing & Privacy In the September 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors and legal experts argue against imposing a mandatory "duty to warn" nonpatients, reports Newsday. Doctors are grappling with the principle of doctor-patient confidentiality over whether to tell a patient's relatives a patient has an inherited disease or mutation that may afflict other family members. September 21, 2004 Project to Create Common HIPAA Transactions Several healthcare industry standards development groups have formed the HIPAA Transactions Convergence Project to assist the healthcare industry in creating a common set of HIPAA Transaction Requirements, reports Health Data Management. Participants include Claredi Corp., the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC), the National Uniform Claims Committee (NUCC), the American Dental Association Dental Content Committee (ADA DeCC), and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP). The HIPAA transactions and code sets (TCS) standards allow optional fields which payers have filled with their own proprietary requirements. In order to send problem-free claims to payers, providers must abide by the TCS Rule requirements as well as individual payer "companion guides" that detail additional data requirements. The goal of the HIPAA Transactions Convergence Project is to help payers and others to unify their unique data requirements for claims and related transactions. September 21, 2004 Healthcare IT Certification Group Sets Summer 2005 Goal The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, formed by three major healthcare organizations, aims to have initial certification requirements and processes for electronic health record systems in place by the summer of 2005. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT) formed the certification commission in July with the intent to encourage the adoption of healthcare IT, and are providing the initial funding and staff. Through voluntary certification of products, the commission aims to reduce the risk of IT investment by healthcare providers while ensuring interoperability of healthcare IT products. Viewing itself as serving three broad groups in the industry -- healthcare providers, vendors and payers -- the commission will zero in first on EHRs for physician offices. September 17, 2004 HIPAA Enforcement Rule Extended The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has extended the expiration date of the HIPAA Enforcement Rule by one year. An interim final rule establishing enforcement procedures for the HIPAA Administrative Simplification provisions, published on April 17, 2003, was set to expire on September 16, 2004. On September 15, a notice was published in the Federal Register extending the expiration date of 45 CFR part 160, subpart E to September 16, 2005, while HHS continues working to develop a more comprehensive final enforcement rule. September 17, 2004 NCVHS Examines Privacy Rule's Effect on Fundraising & Marketing The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), an advisory group to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has issued its findings on the effect of the Privacy Rule on fundraising and marketing activities. Regarding fundraising, NCVHS recommends patients be informed that their department of service information may be used in fundraising and given the opportunity to opt out. NCVHS did not make specific recommendations regarding marketing, but noted concerns raised at the hearing that relate closely to its prior recommendations. Read NCVHS' letter concerning fundraising. Read NCVHS' letter concerning marketing. September 17, 2004 NCVHS Completes Draft E-Prescribing Standards The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has submitted its draft of e-prescribing standards to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), reports Healthcare IT News. NCVHS has developed a series of 18 major observations with associated recommendations, said Jeff Blair, vice chairman of the subcommittee on standards and security for NCVHS. Work was completed on the letter in early September. After the draft standards are reviewed by HHS, it will plan a series of hearings and develop a work plan for implementation, a department spokesperson said. Read NCVHS' recommendations for e-prescribing standards. September 15, 2004 Researchers Say HIPAA Hinders Clinical Studies The HIPAA Privacy Rule is constraining researchers in the US and slowing the progress of clinical studies and biomedical research. Unless fundamental rule changes are addressed, many studies may simply move offshore, warns Roberta Ness, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). Speaking at the American College of Epidemiology conference in Boston this week, Dr. Ness said, "HIPAA has had substantial negative effects on our ability to recruit individuals to participate in research." September 14, 2004 Hospital Workers Suspended for Accessing Clinton Medical Records Staffers at the hospital where Bill Clinton had heart surgery recently were disciplined for trying to access his private medical files, reports the New York Daily News. Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center suspended 17 workers – including a doctor, several supervisors, a lab technician and a number of clerical employees – for attempting to view the computer records. Hospital spokeswoman Myrna Manners would not confirm staffers tried to breach Clinton's records but said there is a "zero-tolerance policy" on protecting patient privacy that extends to the hospital's most senior staff. September 10, 2004 Privacy Group Sues Pharmacy for Illegally Selling Customers' Info The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), a San Diego-based nonprofit consumer information and advocacy organization, announced yesterday that it has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court. The suit charges Albertsons and its affiliated companies, the second largest supermarket chain and fifth largest drugstore retailer in the nation, with violating the privacy rights of thousands of its customers by illegally selling their confidential prescription information to drug companies. According to the complaint, Albertsons' pharmacy customers receive direct mail and phone solicitations derived from their confidential medical information provided to the pharmacy solely to fill prescriptions. The solicitations appear to be from the patient's concerned local pharmacist and remind the customer to renew a prescription or consider an alternative medication. But they are actually generated for pharmaceutical company's sales purposes by a specially-designed marketing database, sold by Albertsons. Written authorization from the customer is not first provided as legally required. September 10, 2004 WEDI Announces New HIPAA White Papers The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) has recently posted new white papers to its site that will assist in meeting the HIPAA requirements. These papers, developed through the Security and Privacy Workgroup of WEDI's Strategic National Implementation Process (SNIP), cover:
A security white paper under development will focus on Disaster Recovery and Contingency Planning. This new white paper will look at the HIPAA requirements and offer suggestions regarding how to approach disaster recovery. September 9, 2004 Kentucky Police Told It's Legal to Name Injured The Kentucky attorney general has ruled that HIPAA does not give police the legal authority to withhold from reports the names of people injured in accidents, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The decision means the public will have access to information that police departments in two of Northern Kentucky's largest cities have declined to release under HIPAA. Media law experts across the country say public agencies, such as police departments, have incorrectly interpreted HIPAA to withhold information long considered public. September 9, 2004 OCR Official Says Records Leak Violated Privacy Rule The HIPAA Privacy rule was designed to guard against the disclosure of information found in patient records that were leaked from the DC fire department, said Richard M. Campanelli, Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), reports the Washington Times. The leaked patient records detail instances of what evaluators say has been substandard care administered by firefighter-medics and include information such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, diagnoses and treatments, about seven patients. HIPAA has provisions for whistleblowers who disclose information, but only when the persons make reports to an entity that is provided for in the law. Though the director of the emergency medical service was not accused of leaking the patient records, he was held responsible for quality-assurance and was fired. September 9, 2004 Blue Cross of FL to Reimburse Doctors Using Secure Online Messaging Service Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida will be launching the first program in the state to reimburse physicians for online medical consultations, reports the Florida Times-Union. Patients will be able to confer with doctors on non-urgent matters, receive lab results, request prescription refills, schedule appointments and request referrals. The insurer has contracted Relay Health to provide the secure Web platform for the services.
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