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January 2005 News ArchivesJanuary 31, 2005 Survey: Slow Adoption of IT a Threat to Health Industry According to a new survey of senior executives released last week, slow adoption of IT is the most serious threat to the healthcare industry, reports Information Week. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for IT services firm Capgemini last month, found that 38% think the slow adoption of IT is among the most serious threats to the industry, followed by rising health costs, which was picked by 37% of the respondents. Respondents were asked to pick the two most serious threats to their sector of the industry from a list of over 24 possible threats. The majority of the survey's 122 respondents were C-level senior executives, of which 44% work for hospitals, health insurers, or physician practices. January 28, 2005 Bush Promotes Health IT Benefits, Asks for Increased Funding President Bush visited the Cleveland Clinic yesterday to highlight the benefits of health IT. "Most industries in America have used information technology to make their businesses more cost-effective, more efficient and more productive, and the truth of the matter is, health care hasn't," Bush said. The White House announced yesterday the President's budget for 2006 continues to support the use of health IT by increasing funding to $125 million. The Administration is also seeking an additional $50 million for this year's budget, in addition to the $50 million already appropriated by Congress. January 28, 2005 High-Tech Alliance on Base for a Digital Health Network Eight of the nation's largest technology companies - IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Accenture, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Computer Sciences - have agreed to embrace open, nonproprietary technology standards as the basis of a national health information network, reports the New York Times. The eight companies formed an alliance, the Interoperability Consortium, which submitted its recommendations to the government last week in a 134-page report. The group recommends that the government establish a nonprofit company called the National Health Technology Standards Corporation, with board members appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The consortium also said a national health network should not include a centralized database and that patients should control their own health records, deciding whether their information can be used in research studies. January 28, 2005 New HHS Secretary Leavitt Sworn-in This Week Michael O. Leavitt was sworn in as the 20th Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 26. Previously, Leavitt served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and Governor of Utah. Sec. Leavitt is widely recognized as a healthcare innovator and welfare reformer, and his record of achievement in Utah bears this out. In 1994, the Utah legislature passed Gov. Leavitt's "Healthprint," a comprehensive, incremental approach to healthcare improvement in the state. A decade later, Utah has more than 400,000 additional people with health insurance and per capita cost of healthcare 25% below the national average. As HHS Secretary, he is committed to unleashing the power of technology to improve the quality of care, reduce mistakes, and manage costs. January 25, 2005 Groups Survey Claims Attachments Use Four organizations are surveying the healthcare industry to assess current practices in the use of claims attachments. The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), Health Level Seven (HL7), the Association for Electronic Health Care Transactions (AFEHCT), and the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 are seeking participation from health plans, providers, billing services, vendors, and clearinghouses. They would also like input from IT vendors about any plans to support the electronic claims attachment, which is expected to be the next transaction standard adopted under HIPAA. The results of the survey will enable standards development organizations to better understand industry processes and needs as a national claims attachment is developed. The online survey will end at midnight on Monday, March 7. Questions will include:
January 25, 2005 Study Estimates Nat'l Health Info. Network Savings Up to $78 Billion A recent study estimates the yearly savings for a national health information network could be from $24 to 78 billion after 10 years, reports the New York Times, depending upon the communications standards. Many medical groups are starting to invest in local networks that connect electronic patient records. But without establishing open communications standards between those networks, the study by the Center for Information Technology Leadership says, a large opportunity for savings may be lost. January 24, 2005 CMS May Release PHI to New Medicare Prescription Drug Plans for Marketing In issuing the Final Rule for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit on Friday, Jan. 21, CMS stated that it reserves its right to provide Medicare beneficiary protected health information (PHI) to prescription drug plans for marketing. According to Joy Pritts, JD, of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, the Medicare Modernization Act permits CMS to make these disclosures without the individual authorization of beneficiaries notwithstanding the marketing restrictions in the HIPAA Privacy Rule. CMS indicated that it will develop further guidance on this issue in the near future. January 21, 2005 States' Role in HIT Boosted by New e-Health Initiative Effort The eHealth Initiative Foundation (eHI) launched its State Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Summit Initiative this week at a meeting of New York State's top healthcare leaders. Starting with New York, eHI is bringing state policy officials together with healthcare, consumer, and business leaders to help improve healthcare through IT. The New York State HIT Policy Initiative is conducted by eHI in partnership with the Health Policy and Strategy Group of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and sponsored by the United Hospital Fund. The new eHI State Initiative focuses on four areas:
January 20, 2005 OCR Offers Guidance on Disclosing PHI in Litigation The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in charge of enforcing the HIPAA Privacy Rule, recently posted to its site answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on disclosing protected health information (PHI) in litigation. The nine questions are:
Read OCR's FAQs on Disclosing PHI in Litigation. January 20, 2005 Groups Endorse 'Common Framework' for National Health Information Network Thirteen health and IT organizations have issued their recommendations for a "National Health Information Network" in response to the Request for Information issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in November 2004. The groups jointly endorse a "Common Framework" to support improved health information exchange in the US while protecting patient privacy. The collaborative foresees a new health information environment that would allow users to retrieve patient records quickly and accurately, subject to patient authorization. This decentralized approach takes advantage of the significant investment already made in IT in US healthcare, protects the privacy of patient information, and improves the quality of care. The recommended approach does not require centralized national databases, replacement of existing information networks, or a unique national health identifier. January 20, 2005 NCVHS Asks VeriChip to Outline Healthcare Privacy Issues for RFID VeriChip Corporation announced this week that Dr. Richard Seelig, Vice President of Medical Applications, presented (upon request) before a hearing held January 11 by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). The topic of the Subcommittee on Privacy and Confidentiality's hearing was the privacy implications of using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in healthcare settings. Dr. Seelig's testimony provided his expert opinion on safeguards that have been implemented to ensure privacy in connection with the company's recent clearance to begin marketing the VeriChip for healthcare applications. January 20, 2005 Handheld Security Questions Raised in T-Mobile Hacking An intrusion into T-Mobile USA's computer system, which the company acknowledged this week, raises questions about use of unsecured personal devices to gain access to vital information, reports the Seattle Times. In T-Mobile's case, the intruder accessed sensitive customer information, including the investigative documents of a US Secret Service agent who occasionally used a personal handheld device in his work. The device stores information on servers at T-Mobile and another company that makes the device. Mike Simon, CTO of a Seattle security-consulting firm, said some precautions are taken when it comes to data on handhelds, but security can fall through the cracks when the data is being transferred from a handheld to its final resting point, leaving a hole for intruders to attack. January 12, 2005 Senate Committee Leaders, AHIMA Urge More Healthcare IT Funding Four Senate committee leaders have urged the Bush administration to include "sufficient funding" for healthcare information technology in its fiscal 2005 budget proposal, reports iHealthBeat. In the letter, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Ranking Member Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and the Committee on Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) called for the administration to propose a "complete plan" for health care IT, which should address opportunities for public-private partnerships; encouragement of physician IT use; and assurance of privacy and security concerns. Congress eliminated from the 2005 federal budget the $50 million requested for funding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT). In response, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) sent a letter last month to outgoing HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson urging him to consider using "undesignated and/or unspent discretionary funds in the HHS budget" to fund ONCHIT. Read AHIMA's letter to Thompson. January 12, 2005 Hacker Compromises Data at University with Elite Information Security Program The names, photos and Social Security numbers of more than 32,000 students and staff at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, have been compromised as the result of a hacker attack against the university's main ID server, reports Computerworld. What makes the break-in more significant is that the institution is one of a few select universities to be designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency. January 10, 2005 To Try to Net Killer, Police Ask Small Town's Men for DNA In an unusual last-ditch move to find clues to a three-year-old murder, police in Massachusetts are trying to get DNA samples from all of the nearly 800 men in the town of Truro or as many as will agree. Raising concerns among civil libertarians, the state and local police began collecting the genetic samples last week, reports the New York Times. The technique has been tried before in a few places in the US, but usually in a more targeted way than in Truro. These investigations have been contentious, especially when the authorities hold on to the DNA of people found to have no connection to the crime. Baton Rouge law enforcement agencies are being sued by nearly two dozen of 1,200 men they tested in 2003; the men want their DNA samples destroyed and their genetic information removed from a databank that can be used in investigations of other crimes. January 7, 2005 HIPAA Privacy Complaint Filed Against LA Times & County Health Dept. A group of physicians and community leaders has filed a complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against the Los Angeles County health department for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The group filed the complaint Dec. 28, saying the county health department provided the LA Times with confidential patient information regarding alleged lapses in care at the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in South Los Angeles. January 3, 2005 Heavyweight Boxer Mesi Sues for Breach of Medical Privacy Boxer Joe Mesi is suing a medical clinic and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), alleging they improperly distributed medical records that indicated he suffered multiple brain bleeds in his last fight, reports USA Today. The heavyweight was suspended pending the results of neurological tests after the Las Vegas bout in March. Physicians Imaging Center of Western New York released the results of five MRIs to NYSAC without Mesi's consent. Those records were in turn released to the media. Mesi's attorney said that leaking the medical information tainted the public, the media and perhaps the Nevada commission and violated federal patient privacy statutes.
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