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September 2006 News ArchivesSeptember 28, 2006 CMS Offers Encore Presentation of NPI Roundtable The September 26th National Provider Identifier (NPI) Roundtable, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), drew a record-breaking number of participants for the HIPAA Roundtable series. As a result, the overwhelming response exceeded logistical expectations and therefore many callers were unable to join the call. An encore presentation is now available for access at your convenience, 24 hours a day, until midnight on Wednesday, October 4th (including the weekend). Interested participants can access the encore with the following information:
A transcript of the call will also be available shortly on the CMS web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/ September 27, 2006 ID Theft Infects Medical Records Federal privacy rules intended to protect private information can make it difficult for patients to even obtain their own records when identity theft is suspected, since the penalties for improper disclosure prompt some hospitals to set up roadblocks including demands for multiple forms of identification, reports the Los Angeles Times. The bitter twist on medical identity theft is that once a person tells a keeper of records that someone else's data might be intermingled, the file becomes even harder to obtain. Why? Because it includes another person's medical history, which many hospitals argue can't be turned over without consent. Read more from the Los Angeles Times. Read Modern Healthcare's article, "A Real Steal." September 27, 2006 CMS Posts New FAQ on Covered Entities Under HIPAA The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to the CMS web site. The FAQ asks if a health care provider receives health information electronically (e.g. an electronic remittance advice), but does not transmit any health information electronically, is the healthcare provider a covered entity under HIPAA. The answer is if a healthcare provider only receives health information electronically in connection with standard transactions, but does not transmit, or use a third party to transmit, (including transmission within the healthcare provider organization) information in connection with a standard transaction electronically, the provider would not be a covered entity. September 27, 2006 Kennedy to Introduce Personal Health Records Bill Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) plans to introduce a bill this week to give physicians a financial incentive to create personal health records for their patients, reports Federal Computer Week. Under the Personalized Health Information Act, physicians would receive $2 for each patient for whom they build a personal health record listing the diagnoses they make and the medicines they prescribe. The idea is to jump-start the market for electronic health records by getting more physicians on board. The physicians do not have to invest $20,000 or more to buy an advanced EHR system. Instead, they can buy a low-end product or sign up for one of the personal health record packages various insurers offer. The solution must include certain basic characteristics, however, according to the bill. September 27, 2006 States Approach Health IT Differently, Survey Finds State-level activities that foster health information technology often differ from those on the local or regional levels, according to the latest nationwide survey by the eHealth Initiative, reports Government HealthIT. Although two-thirds of local and regional initiatives reported that they are focusing on implementation of health information exchanges, only 29 percent of the state efforts focused on exchanges. However, states are twice as likely as local and regional initiatives to focus on assessment, policy development and planning, the survey found. The report shows that the exchange of electronic health records continues to increase, with 165 initiatives now under way nationwide. Twenty-six of those initiatives are fully operational, the report states. However, exchanges are still struggling financially to sustain their operations long term. September 20, 2006 Documents Assess RHIOs, Give Tips According to an in-depth analysis of nine initiatives, most state-level regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and similar health information exchanges remain in the early stages of development, reports Health Data Management. The analysis, conducted under a contract with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, also found that state initiatives significantly differ in their origins, drivers of action, state market characteristics and approach. The American Health Information Management Association's (AHIMA) Foundation of Research and Education conducted the analysis, with substantial assistance from stakeholders in the nine surveyed states and industry experts. Stakeholders also have created a set of principles, checklists and worksheets to guide development of such projects. September 19, 2006 Health IT Bills Should Allow EHR Portability, Says Former HHS Official Brailer In a New York Times opinion piece today, former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Brailer writes, "Steps are now under way to bring ... lifesaving" electronic health records to all hospitals and physician offices in the US, but "Congress is considering a bill that would make it harder to allow your information to follow you throughout your healthcare treatment," reports the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report. The House and Senate have passed separate bills to promote the implementation of healthcare IT, but "they disagree on the most important issue ... : whether portability should be a condition for [EHR] donations," Brailer writes. According to Brailer, critics "miss the fundamental and overarching issue that Congress must confront as it tries to reconcile the competing versions of the bill: opposition to portable health information is, by definition, support for proprietary health information." September 15, 2006 Groups Commit to HIPAA Standardization More than 20 leading healthcare organizations have committed to making it significantly easier for physicians and other health professionals to verify patient insurance information – one of the biggest administrative challenges identified by providers, CAQH announced yesterday. By March 31, 2007, these organizations will electronically exchange eligibility and benefits information according to operating rules developed through the CAQH Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE). Operating rules build on existing standards, such as HIPAA, to make electronic transactions more efficient, predictable and consistent, regardless of the technology. September 15, 2006 HHS Team Tackles Genetics, EHR Integration The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching an effort to integrate genomics into clinical information systems so that a patient's genetic makeup can be considered in preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease, reports Government Health IT. Announcing the initiative September 12 at the American Health Information Community (AHIC) meeting, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said he has "put together a team that is working together across HHS," with representatives from the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other health agencies. Leavitt said genomics will play an increasingly larger role in medicine, and now is the time to figure out how best to incorporate genetic information into e-health records, before multiple nonstandard approaches take hold. September 15, 2006 GAO Reports Find HHS Has IT, Privacy Issues Two reports issued last week from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – the audit, evaluation and investigative arm of Congress – criticize Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) efforts to promote the use of IT, improve patient safety, and protect patient privacy, reports Modern Healthcare. The GAO's report, "Information Security: Department of Health and Human Services Needs to Fully Implement Its Program," states HHS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) systems and controls have significant weaknesses. In presenting the report to a House Subcommittee on September 1, the GAO director of IT management issues pointed out one of the problems the GAO found regarding health IT is that the effort is floundering without specific targets and benchmarks for success. The GAO's second report, "Privacy: Domestic and Offshore Outsourcing of Personal Information in Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE," finds more than 40% of federal contractors to the Medicare and Tricare programs and state Medicaid agencies had experienced privacy breaches.
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