Hospital Access Management 2005-11-01

Lessons learned from Florida hurricanes informed HCA's response to Katrina

Experience gained when hurricanes hit the coast of Florida in August and September 2004 served the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) well when it came time to respond to the threat of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in September 2005.

Hospital status system helps in state evacuation

A web-based system for monitoring bed availability and transferring patients to other facilities helped mitigate the effects of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, says Jim Craig, director of health protection for the Mississippi Department of Health.

HIPAA rules clarified to ease emergency care

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued a special bulletin regarding "HIPAA Privacy and Disclosures in Emergency Situations."

Normal procedures relaxed for benefits of evacuees

Many of the normal operating procedures for Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) were relaxed to accommodate the emergency health care needs of beneficiaries and medical providers in states devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

One patient tracker leads to another

A patient tracker used throughout the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) had its beginnings when an information technology support person for the emergency department (ED) was asked to replace the "white boards" that were being used to keep up with patients' location.

Patients properly placed as throughput streamlined

An access initiative at Sutter Health in Sacramento, CA, is helping streamline throughput while placing "the right patient in the right hospital at the right level of care," says Barbara Leach, RN, director of case management for Sacramento Yolo Sutter Health.

News Brief

Care decision guides are available on-line

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HHS says HIPAA rules allow Katrina information-sharing

Within days of Hurricane Katrina lashing the Gulf Coast states, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) reminded providers through mailed notices and news media announcements that the privacy rule allows patient information to be shared to assist in disaster relief efforts and in providing patients the care they need.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: CMS no longer processing noncompliant claims

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan said the federal government will not process incoming non-HIPAA-compliant Medicare claims submitted for payment on and after Oct. 1, 2005. That decision ended a portion of CMS' HIPAA contingency plan that was in effect since Oct. 16, 2003, under which Medicare continued accepting noncompliant claims after the deadline.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: CMS issues risk analysis and management paper

The sixth in a planned series of seven HIPAA security rule educational papers deals with risk analysis and risk management. The rule's security management process standard has four required implementation specifications, including risk analysis and risk management.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIPAA security rule progress still slow

A Computerworld survey of information technology managers and analysts found that five months after HIPAA's data security rules took effect, many health care companies still are not fully compliant with them. Those interviewed said technology, process, and budgetary issues delayed compliance efforts, along with what was seen as a weak enforcement component that has led many health care organizations to believe they could take a wait-and-see attitude toward the rules.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Standards for claims attachments proposed

The Department of Health and Human Services published in the Sept. 23 Federal Register a proposal for adoption of standards for certain attachments to electronic health care claims under HIPAA. The proposed standard would require doctors, hospitals, and other covered entities to use certain transactions, messaging standards, and a new code set when they electronically request the additional information and provide the information in response to the request related to health plans processing claims.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HHS publishes interim final rule extension

The Department of Health and Human Services published Sept. 14 an extension to the interim final rule establishing procedures for imposition of civil money penalties on entities that violate HIPAA administrative simplification standards.

2005 Salary Survey Results: Innovation, creativity increasingly important for advancement in access management

Health care organizations used to mention "re-engineering" expertise as they sought individuals to fill upper-level management positions, but now the operative word is "innovation," says Dee Hartung, vice president in the executive search division of St. Louis-based Cejka Search.

Tracker follows patients through each step of care

A computerized "patient tracker" developed in-house at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is being put to particularly effective use at the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (MIRT), where patients move back and forth among different treatment areas during extended stays.

JCAHO provides guide for emergency response

A step-by-step guide for small, rural, and suburban communities to prepare for and successfully respond to major local and regional emergencies has been issued by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Hospital Access Management – November 1, 2005

November 1, 2005