Monthly Archives: August 2010
How to write a Notice of Information Practices and Privacy Statement?
HIPAA applies to all medical and mental health service providers. It requires that all persons you collect medical information from either directly or indirectly (such as by filling a prescription) be notified of their rights to privacy and receive a “Notice of Privacy Practices” which is sometimes also called “Notice of Information Practices.” The statement … Continue reading
Getting yourself insured against security breach or privacy loss
If you are in healthcare industry managing PHI, then a single security breach can cost millions. With the large numbers of patients or insured customers, the potential cost of a breach can be very high. In such a case, you should opt for network security or privacy loss insurance. What started with just a few … Continue reading
CMS sends letter to state Medicaid agencies for guidance on use of EHR
The HITECH Act provides 100 percent federal funding for Medicaid meaningful use incentive programs and 90 percent for reasonable state administrative expenses. States must, at a minimum, demonstrate adequate administrative and oversight procedures, and promote adoption of certified EHR products and secure exchange of health information. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has sent … Continue reading
Binary Spectrum gets HIPAA certification
Binary Spectrum, a Microsoft Gold certified partner and a member of the Sun Partner Advantage Program, with years of expertise in designing and developing customized Healthcare software products incorporating HL7 integration solutions and outsourcing support for the global market, has finally achieved Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Certification. It is now amongst those … Continue reading
Blumenthal announces the first state settlement with Healthnet
This January Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal painted the headlines red when he brought a HIPAA enforcement action against insurance giant Health, thus becoming the first AG in the country to do so. Health Net has been under suit for it’s loss of a hard drive containing over 500,000 individuals’ records including clinical data, … Continue reading
What are HIPAA transactions and code set standards?
The HIPAA transactions and code set standards are rules to standardize the electronic exchange of patient-identifiable, health-related information. They are based on electronic data interchange (EDI) standards, which allow the electronic exchange of information from computer to computer without human involvement. A “transaction” is an electronic business document. Each of the HIPAA standard transactions has … Continue reading
Is your Email system HIPAA compliant?
With the advent of internet email has emerged as a communication solution and more and more patients are looking to communicate with their healthcare providers via email. Some healthcare practitioners do however feel that emailing their patients equates to working for free, but some clinics have already adopted charging for email consultations. It is possible … Continue reading
Informations sought by HHS officers during HIPAA audit
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires compliance audit to be conducted by the office of the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) and here is a list of some of the information which can be sought by the HHS official if your organization is on an HIPAA … Continue reading
HHS Proposed Rule for marketing under HIPAA
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a set of significant updates to health privacy rules. The rule is open for public comment until September 13th. Although the proposed rule does not clarify some outstanding issues in the health information technology (health IT) area, it does contain numerous changes to the … Continue reading