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Medical Banking Project founder John Casillas says that one of the changes in the final HIPAA security rule eliminated any requirement to encrypt electronically transmitted protected health information, even over the Internet or other open networks.
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San Francisco-area attorney Steven Fleisher, who is HIPAA consultant to the California Medical Association and provides compliance services to providers and employers, says that health care providers working in solo and small groups have the fewest resources available to deal with HIPAA compliance and are experiencing fear and loathing on the HIPAA trail.
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When an orthopedic resident was paged repeatedly to assess a patient with an open fracture of the forearm, he failed to respond. The resident was paged multiple times and took more than an hour to get to the emergency department (ED).
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations recent announcement that it will switch to unannounced surveys beginning January 2006 means quality improvement professionals will have to dramatically change the way they think about compliance with standards and ensure that the rest of the organization follows suit.
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Quality improvement and peer review professionals must continue to focus on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance long after the deadlines pass, say experts, who caution that protecting sensitive data will be a constant worry even after you have the appropriate mechanisms in place.
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A quality improvement project in Dayton, OH, achieved a 36% drop in mortality from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among a group of hospitals cooperating on the effort, and participants say it could not have been done without high-quality data collection by peer review and quality improvement professionals.
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One way an organization can ensure repeat business is by developing a strong customer service program that includes a concern management system. An effective concern management system involves five steps. The first step document the concerns was described in last months Quality-Co$t Connection column. The last four steps are described in this months column.
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The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations announced recently they jointly will offer a Privacy Certification Program for Business Associates.
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Two leading health care industry coalitions have launched a universal web site aimed at standardizing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) communications between health plans and the provider community, including hospitals, physicians, billing services, vendors, and clearinghouses.
