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December 2005 News ArchivesDecember 28, 2005 Michigan May Start Health ID System A statewide health information system would allow patient data, details about health care coverage and medical procedures to easily move between doctor's offices, hospitals and insurance companies, reports the Detroit News. That's what health and information technology officials want in Michigan. They're meeting with hospitals, insurance providers, physicians, universities and IT companies to lay the groundwork for a system intended to improve health care in the state. Getting such a system in place will cost money and could present many challenges. It also raises potential privacy and security concerns. December 13, 2005 CMS Seeks to Speed Bulk NPIs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking fast-track approval of a certification document that provider organizations can use to conduct bulk enumeration of the national provider identifier (NPI), reports Health Data Management. Bulk enumeration would enable an organization to send a file requesting identifiers for all appropriate physicians and other providers. CMS published notice December 9 in the Federal Register, asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency approval of the electronic file interchange process. Read the Federal Register notice. December 9, 2005 HHS Hears Testimony on Economic Impact of Healthcare Regulations Testifying yesterday at a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) town hall meeting in Chicago on the economic impact of healthcare regulations, the Illinois Hospital Association (IHA) urged HHS to assess and report on the status of 255 reforms recommended three years ago by former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to reduce the regulatory burden on healthcare providers, reports American Hospital Association (AHA) News. Speaking for the association, IHA Senior Vice President Howard Peters urged HHS, for example, to assess the readiness of health insurance plans to adopt the eligibility, enrollment, and remittance systems called for by HIPAA, noting that the lack of widespread adoption of such systems is one reason HIPAA has failed to realize its goal of reducing administrative costs in the healthcare system. He also urged the agency to update its Medicare claims processing software to include all of the diagnosis and procedure codes used for HIPAA transactions, noting many hospitals are substantially underpaid because the software will only process a limited number of codes. December 9, 2005 Federal Court Upholds HIPAA Rule Against Privacy Challenge On October 31, the Third Circuit US Court of Appeals upheld the use of protected health information (PHI) for use in treatment, payment, and operations (TPO) without obtaining prior consent as permitted in the HIPAA Privacy regulations. The decision in the case Citizens for Health v. Leavitt (formerly Thompson; 3d Cir., No. 04-2550) upholds a previous US District Court decision. Patient advocacy groups argued that the HIPAA rules for release of PHI for these routine uses, without consent, violated individuals' First and Fifth Amendment rights, and HIPAA itself. The court rejected these arguments, making clear that HIPAA may be implemented in a manner that places reasonable limits on the privacy protections available under that law. The court expressly noted that the objective of protecting patients’ privacy must be balanced against the statute’s other legitimate goals. December 2, 2005 Updated ICD-9 Coding Guidelines Take Effect The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Center for Health Statistics, two agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, recently released updated guidelines, effective December 1, for using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnostic and procedure codes to report and bill for medical services, reports AHA News. Approved by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the other three organizations that serve as cooperating parties for the ICD-9-CM, the guidelines are a set of rules that have been developed to complement the official conventions and instructions provided within the ICD-9-CM. Adherence to the guidelines is required under HIPAA. December 2, 2005 Report Outlines Achievable Steps for Adoption of EHRs & RHIOs A report released last week by the Center for Health Transformation (CHT) and IDX Systems outlines achievable recommendations to spur the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and regional health information organizations (RHIOs), based on the best practices of successful health data exchanges. Drawn from discussions among participants at the CHT Connectivity Conference held October 18, 2005, the report entitled "Accelerating Transformation through Health Information Technology," highlights proven and practical strategies for healthcare providers, federal and state policymakers and other stakeholders. A broad range of conference participants contributed to the report’s sixteen specific recommendations, which address issues crucial to creating a successful RHIO and promoting broader adoption of healthcare IT. December 2, 2005 Study: Large Healthcare Organizations are Embracing RFID Nearly seventy-four percent of health care organizations plan to invest in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in 2007, according to a new study by management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint Inc. and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology. Industry-wide spending on RFID is poised to increase next year, driven by senior executives who view the technology as critical to helping achieve their organizations' business goals, especially improved patient safety. The more than 300 healthcare respondents, most from commercial and government healthcare providers, reported cost as a chief barrier to adoption. Sixty percent of respondents said they have delayed some RFID activities while they wait for industry or government guidance on privacy, security and standards.
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