Health Law

Think Tank Thinks ONC's Plan will Tank

Posted on July 29, 2008
Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based think tank published a "scathing critique of the government's efforts to promote healthcare information technology," reports Healthcare IT News. In its August 2008 edition of Health Care News, Heartland's analysts call the ONC- Coordinated Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan 2008-2012 "poorly conceived" and argue that "any plan for changing the healthcare system is better coming from the private sector rather than government ...

Wikipedia for Health Care? It's Coming . . .

Posted on July 23, 2008
The Los Angeles Times reported today about MEDPEDIA.com,  the website currently being developed by Internet entrepreneurs, together with doctors, researchers, and other medical professionals in order to create what is hoped (by them) will be largest body of health information on the Internet...

Providence's HIPAA Corrective Action Plan

Posted on July 19, 2008
As promised, here is a link to a copy of the Corrective Action Plan between Providence Hospital and the federal government. 

BREAKING NEWS - Feds Impose Penalties For HIPAA Violations

Posted on July 17, 2008
Well, years have literally come and gone since covered entities first scrambled to comply with HIPAA's Privacy Rule and Security Rule requirements, yet there continued to be no formal penalties assessed by the government for HIPAA violations...

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$$$ Carrots (and Sticks) are Coming for Physicians to Adopt HIT

Posted on July 10, 2008
In one of my earlier blog posts, I mentioned that carrots and sticks could be coming in connection with the adoption of health information technology.  Well, yesterday afternoon the Senate passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H...

Horizon BC/BS Grants a Limited EHR Subsidy to New Jersey Health Care Providers

Posted on July 09, 2008
Health Data Management reported yesterday that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey will commit up to $500,000 to help select hospitals in its New Jersey network adopt electronic medication history technology.  This would give physicians real-time medication histories when patients check into a hospital or emergency department...

Best Practices for HealthVault and Google Health

Posted on June 30, 2008
At the end of June, Investor's Business Daily reported that Google, Microsoft, Aetna, Blue Cross/ and 27 other private organizations "agreed on" ground rules for protecting the privacy of the sensitive information" contained in personal health records (PHRs)...

LIVE Audio Conference - Keys to Compliance with EHRs

Posted on June 19, 2008
On Thursday, July 17, 2008, National Constitution Center Conferences is offering a 60-minute Live Audio Conference called “Electronic Health Records:  Keys To Compliance” during which I will discuss many of the legal issues, challenges and practical solutions to utilizing electronic health records...

"But, I Never Had My Kidney Removed . . . ."

Posted on June 13, 2008
ONC's Coordinator, Dr. Robert Kolodner, has noted that medical identity theft stories are being documented at an increasing rate, bringing to light serious financial, fraud, and patient care issues, and that it is imperative to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of this issue from a variety of perspectives...

Microsoft Is Connecting the Government Too

Posted on June 12, 2008
On June 12, 2008 at the Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition in Washington D.C., Microsoft released version 2 of its Connected Health and Human Services Framework, which it touted as providing a "flexible, individual and family-centered approach for addressing the challenges that face HHS agencies, departments and programs as they respond to complex social needs and problems and deliver services to individuals and families in need...

And The EHR Demo Project Winners Are.....

Posted on June 11, 2008
In a June 10 HHS News Release, Secretary Mike Leavitt named the 12 communities that will participate in a 5-year national Medicare demonstration project that provides incentive payments to physicians for using certified electronic health records (EHR) to improve the quality of patient care (the "EHR Demo Project")...

ONC releases its Comprehensive HIT Plan

Posted on June 03, 2008
Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a comprehensive Strategic Plan for advancing health information technology (HIT). The Strategic Plan is intended to serve as a guide to coordinate the federal government’s health IT efforts to achieve nationwide implementation of an interoperable health IT infrastructure throughout both the public and private sector...

CMS Gives Qualified "OK" To Hospital Covering Cost Of Customized EHR Software For Physicians' Use

Posted on May 31, 2008
In its May 28th Advisory Opinion, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found that a hospital system's proposal to pay for customized software to facilitate communication between its electronic health record (EHR) system and EHR software used by physicians affiliated with the hospital would not constitute a prohibited compensation arrangement under the Stark Law...

HIPAA NPI May 23rd Deadline May Spike Denial of Claims

Posted on May 23, 2008
May 23 is the compliance date for the National Provider Identifier (NPI) to be used exclusively for electronic health care claims under HIPAA.  Providers who do not use their assigned NPI after this date may find health insurers starting to reject and return electronic claims...

GINA (the new federal law, not a girl) May Spur Lawsuits

Posted on May 22, 2008
Yesterday, the White House Office of the Press Secretary announced that President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA").  The intent of GINA is to protect individuals from employers and insurance companies denying employment, promotions or health coverage to people when genetic tests show they have a predisposition to cancer, heart disease, or other ailments...

Defining Health IT Alphabet Soup

Posted on May 20, 2008
The National Alliance for Health Information Technology released its final Report to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (aka "ONC") today which, among other things, provides consensus definitions for the following six key health information technology terms: Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Personal Health Record (PHR) Health Information Exchange (HIE) Health Information Organization (HIO) Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) The project which resulted in the Report was called "Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms" and was funded by ONC with the goal of addressing the need to clarify terminology used in health IT policy, regulation, contracts and other initiatives...

NJ Governor Corzine Appoints Oscislawski to HIT Commission

Posted on May 13, 2008
On May 13th, the Office of the Governor announced several direct appointments to the New Jersey Health Information Technology (NJ-HIT) Commission, and I am extremely pleased to pass along that I have been appointed to the attorney seat on the Commission...

New Enforcement Data Added to HHSs Web Site on HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement

Posted on May 12, 2008
Last week, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) added a new data section on its Compliance and Enforcement Web Site.  The new section can be viewed at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/enforcement/data.html.  The public can now access enhanced information about several aspects of OCR's enforcement program, including: Charts showing state-specific case investigation results; Calendar-year enforcement-results graphs and charts; Calendar-year graph showing complaint receipts; and Yearly variation in the issues in cases resolved through corrective action...

New Enforcement Data Added to HHS' Web Site on HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement

Posted on May 12, 2008
Last week, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) added a new data section on its Compliance and Enforcement Web Site.  The new section can be viewed at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/enforcement/data.html.  The public can now access enhanced information about several aspects of OCR's enforcement program, including: Charts showing state-specific case investigation results; Calendar-year enforcement-results graphs and charts; Calendar-year graph showing complaint receipts; and Yearly variation in the issues in cases resolved through corrective action...

You CAN Go To Jail for HIPAA Violations

Posted on May 08, 2008
On May 8th, 2008, John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, announced in a press release that a 30-year old Oklahoma City woman who pled guilty to violating HIPAA may face up 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000!  As part of her plea, the woman admitted that in the summer of 2007, while she was employed by a counseling center in Oklahoma City, she knowingly allowed two individuals to take patient files from her place of employment which contained individually identifiable health information with the intent to obtain personal gain...

CMS Launches PHR Test Pilot

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in a Press Release dated May 7, 2008 its new pilot test project in South Carolina that will use an on-line tool called a Personal Health Record (PHR) to give Medicare beneficiaries the ability to collect and then access information about their health or health care services, and collect information about their health...

Federal Law Passed to Protect Use and Disclosure of Genetic Information

Posted on April 25, 2008
ScienceDaily reports today that the U.S. Senate approved the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) yesterday, April 24, 2008, by unanimous consent of an amended version of H.R. 493, which passed the House last April 25, 2007 by a vote of 420-3...

RHIO Tech Talk - NY RHIO Selects IT Vendor

Posted on April 23, 2008
Axolotl Corp. of San Jose, California, has been chosen to implement the Interboro Regional Health Information Exchange in order to facilitate data exchange among providers in the Queens area of New York City. The RHIO will use Axolotl's Elysium Community Virtual Health Record and EMR-Lite applications to enable participating physicians to access patient lab reports, radiology reports, medication history, allergies and other clinical data via a secure Web application...

Educating the Educators on Privacy Laws

Posted on April 15, 2008
 Last October, the United States Department of Education released a policy guidance document to to help educators and parents interpret federal privacy laws in an initiative prompted by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech.  The document was created in response to schools' requests "for guidance on what information can be shared among government agencies and parents under the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act” (FERPA)...

Sanctions May be Imposed Due to Stark-Struck Snoopers

Posted on April 10, 2008
On April 8, 2008, the New York Times & The Los Angeles Times reported that, Dr. Mark Horton, head of the California Department of Public Health, said that "the agency planned to sanction the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center after hospital workers improperly viewed the records of more than 60 patients, including the actress Farrah Fawcett and the state's first lady, Maria Shriver...

HIPAA Update Seminar

Posted on March 28, 2008
On April 3, 2008, I will be discussing some of the most common HIPAA misinterpretations and burning questions still out there at a Compliance Seminar organized and offered through the NJ Medical Society of New Jersey.   Among the specific questions I will cover are: When can information be released to a patient's relatives and friends? Can medical records be released pursuant to a subpoena? Is a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement required for all vendors? Should medical records be taken home? How long should I keep medical records? billing records? administrative records? Do I have to notify patients of accidental disclosures?  What about security breaches? What should I do if a HIPAA complaint is filed against my practice? What are the benefits and risks with participating in a electronic health information exchange with a hospital or other provider?For further information about the Compliance Seminar, visit: http://www...

One Man's Scrap Paper .... (part 2)

Posted on March 28, 2008
On my previous post, I left open the question of whether UPS is on the hook under HIPAA for the box of medical records that ended up in a paper scrap resale warehouse.  The brief response is not under HIPAA.  The federal government has expressly stated that mail carriers are not considered business associates under the HIPAA Privacy Rule when they handle protected health information on behalf of a covered entity provider...

One Man's Scrap Paper Is Another Man's Treasure (part 1)

Posted on March 13, 2008
Business Week reported earlier this week that the medical records of 28 Central Florida Regional Hospital patients were included in a box purchased for $20 from a surplus store by a teacher for use as "scrap paper" in her fourth grade classroom...

Is All "Marketing" Prohibited by HIPAA?

Posted on February 11, 2008
In general, HIPAA requires a written authorization from an individual before a health care provider can make a communication about a product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service.  However, certain mailings and communications with individuals are permissible without having to obtain prior written authorization because they are not considered "marketing" as defined by the HIPAA Privacy Rule...

CMS to Audit 10-20 Hospitals In Next 9 Months

Posted on January 24, 2008
GovernmentHealthIT reports that on January 16, 2008 at a workshop on HIPAA security, CMS announced that it will begin its audits by reviewing 10 to 20 hospitals in the next nine months for compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule.  As posted earlier on this Blog, CMS has contracted with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), an accounting and consulting firm, to help with the reviews...

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