News briefs
Health care lags in HIPAA compliance
According to a recent survey, more than 75% of health care organizations have yet to complete the assessments of their current environments and risks that are necessary to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) transaction regulations which are due to be implemented in less than 18 months.
This according to Gartner Inc., which conducted the survey, could spell for a last-minute crunch in the coming months as companies scramble to meet the deadline or risk high penalties. Gartner Inc. also found some good news when it learned that there has been some improvement in the past quarter with respect to the number of health care organizations that have begun the HIPAA-required early awareness tasks. On another positive note, the survey noted that there is an overall increased awareness of the significance of HIPAA.
Among the other findings were:
• 27% of companies have begun preliminary budgeting efforts for their compliance activities.
• Less than 30% of health care organizations have begun formal HIPAA education programs for their employees.
• 9% of health care organizations have completed privacy assessments.
• 11% of health care organizations reported any activity toward obtaining vendor contractual commitments for HIPAA compliance.
• Payers are almost four times as likely as providers (42% vs. 11%, respectively) to have completed transaction/code set assessments.
TV maker to offer telephone service
Home health agencies will now have another vendor from which to choose their telephony programs, now that Panasonic, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of televisions, video and other electronic equipment, has developed an Internet-based telemedicine system for the home health market. The company’s new Telehomecare System has three major components:
• patient terminal, which will measure vital signs, including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, blood sugar, and oxygen saturation, and comes equipped with a stethoscope, electrocardiograph device, and a scale, featuring an interactive touch screen, a video camera, and voice and picture guidance;
• network-server software;
• doctor-terminal software that will enable health care professionals to access patient data stored on the server, and communicate with the patient through either e-mail or a videophone.
The system, while not yet for sale, has been tested by Focused Health Solutions Inc. and VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
The agency formerly known as HCFA
As of June 14, health care professionals kissed the Health Care Financing Administration goodbye. Citing its negative image, President Bush announced that the organization will now be known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As part of its new and improved image, the newly named organization will introduce later this year a toll-free hotline to answer people’s questions about Medicare 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The number — (800) MEDICARE — now is open to take calls from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Also on tap for the agency is a $35 million national media campaign to highlights the health insurance options available to the elderly. Among them are health maintenance organizations, fee-for-service Medicare, and private insurance to fill gaps in Medicare and medical savings accounts. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson said of the organization’s new image, "We’re making quality service the No. 1 priority."
No PPS adjustment for therapy codes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will not adjust the prospective payments for seven therapy codes it added to its consolidated billing list earlier this spring. In its Questions and Answers on Consolidated Billing page (www.hcfa.gov/medicare/hhfaqupdate1.htm), CMS says it considered such a rate adjustment but determined that use of the services was so low that it would have "no impact" on home health prospective payments system rates. Nor will CMS seek to reverse Part B payments based on claims submitted prior to July 1 for any of the seven therapy services.
Proposed PPS change gets cautious approval
Under the prospective payment system (PPS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a 2.4% increase in funding for skilled nursing facilities, based on a marketbasket adjustment that called for a 2.9% increase in funding. This number was later reduced by 0.5% per the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000.
Even with the increase in funding, the Ameri-can Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), says it may not be enough to alleviate the financial burdens long-term care providers face. "We’re pleased that [CMS] has recognized the need to update the marketbasket, which is currently based on data from 1992," says Susan Polniaszek, AAHSA’s senior reimbursement policy analyst. "However, the proposed increase is based on 1997 data, which does not account for the dramatic increases in liability insurance and wages." AAHSA consists of more than 5,600 not-for-profit nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, and senior housing facilities, and community service organizations and serves more than 1 million patients daily, she explains.
Six states add cancer coverage for women
Uninsured women in Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, and Montana now are eligible for medical coverage for breast and cervical cancers, as each state has taken advantage of the federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act. The federal legislation, which was signed into law in October 2000, allows states to offer medical benefits to uninsured women suffering from either cancer who have been diagnosed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Other states participating in the program are Rhode Island, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Maryland. For more information, go to www.hcfa.gov/Medicaid/bccpthm.htm.
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