Last Call for Hospital Attestations CMS is reminding hospitals that Friday, November 30, is the last day to register and submit their attestations for FY 2012 Meaningful Use incentive payments. Hospitals must attest to having successfully met all Meaningful Use requirements in order to...
What do Thanksgiving, HIE and Disaster Recovery Have in Common? First, we want to wish all of our readers across the United States a very healthy and Happy Thanksgiving! We also ask that you remember that this holiday, the Northeast is just emerging from the most devastating natural disaster to...
Guess What? OIG DOES Care about EHRs and Meaningful Use Today marks the last day for hospitals to return an 18-page, 54 question survey inquiring about their EHR practices, security, coding and other potential EHR fraud and abuse vulnerabilities. Hospitals using certified EHR...
“Final Countdown” to the HITECH Omnibus Rule The date for publication of the HITECH “Omnibus Rule” has become a contest for some. Data breach consultant, IdExperts, has launched a “Final Coundown” contest for individuals to guess the date on which the Omnibus Rule will actually be...
Is NwHIN going from “Free” to “For Fee”? Notable news late last week included ONC Coordinator Dr. Fazad Mostashari publishing a blog post stating that ONC has decided NOT to pursue promulgating regulations to govern the NwHIN. The decision was made in part after his Officeconsidered comments...
BCBS Plans Defend against Antitrust Class Actions Back at the end of July, a class action lawsuit was filed against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBS Alabama), the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (the “Association”), and multiple BCBS Plans for antitrust violations. The...
August Goes Out with a Bang: Stage 2 Final Rule & HIPAA Arrest August ended in a whirlwind of federal activity, with CMS and OCR publishing the long-awaited Meaningful Use Stage 2 Final Rule and its accompanying Standards & Certification Criteria. And, as if Stage 2 wasn’t...
CMS Meaningful Use Audits Begin; Stage 2 Rule Sent to OMB for Review HITECH Answers reports that CMS has begun audits of providers participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. With little fanfare and no official introduction of CMS’ chosen auditor, health care providers have...
HHS Partners with Private Sector to Combat Healthcare Fraud On Thursday, July 26, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new partnership between the public and private sectors to stomp out healthcare fraud. With HHS funding, federal, state and private...
The ACA SCOTUS Decision in Plain English As we all know from the “media drama” as some might call the countless media coverage, news articles, blogs and other posts, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) on June...
CMS Releases Additional Meaningful Use Guidance for EPs; Stage 3 Recommendations Underway CMS released last week a new comprehensive guide for eligible professionals (EPs) participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. The guide covers: Program basics, such as an explanation of...
FDA Moving Forward with Regulating Mobile Health Apps This post is prepared by Christopher Dodson. Mobile medical apps designed for use on phones and tablets are generally unregulated. In July 2011, the FDA published guidance indicating its intention to use the existing regulatory framework for a...
CMS Releases New Meaningful Use FAQ for EPs using Hospital EHRs CMS released a new FAQ on June 27 to help clarify to what extent an eligible professional (EP) can use a hospital EHR to meet Meaningful Use objectives and measures. The FAQ makes it clear that an EP can use both a...
OCR Releases HIPAA Audit Protocol as Audits Continue Without pomp and circumstance, OCR made available its protocol for the HIPAA performance audits conducted pursuant to the HITECH audit requirement. The Audit Protocol covers the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules,...
The .7 Million Flashdrive…Alaska Medicaid Settles HIPAA Violations Even state agencies are not invisible to the all-seeing eye of OCR. The use, and subsequent theft of, an unencrypted flashdrive cost the Alaska Medicaid agency $1.7 million, according to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)...