The HIPAA Act of 1996 required the establishment of a national Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) under the direction of the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Program was designed to coordinate Federal, State and local law ...
The Importance of Auditing and Monitoring One of the elements of an effective compliance program is Internal Auditing and Monitoring…but how does this translate into your practice or health care system? The OIG states, “An ongoing evaluation process is critical to a successful compliance ...
We all read the reports of healthcare data breaches and cybersecurity attacks, but did you know that, according to a 2017 report from Accenture and the American Medical Association (AMA). 55% OF PHYSICIANS SAID THEY HAD EXPERIENCED A HEALTHCARE PHISHING ATTACK? In addition, approximately half ...
Mobile devices (phones, tablets, laptops) are being utilized more and more in healthcare organizations. They can increase work efficiency and offer convenience to both providers, employees and patients. However, mobile devices are commonly involved in data breaches and are at risk of being lost ...
News of PHI breaches have been flooding the media of late, and protecting your patients’ PHI and other personal information is imperative. Millions of individuals of have been affected in just a couple of high profile data breaches. A draft bill, “Data Security and Breach Notification Act” (the ...
In early September, Secretary Tom Price of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced his agency needs “to focus more on the most recent breaches and clarify when entities have taken action to resolve the issues that might have led to their breaches.” Following along with ...
Merit-Based Incentive Payment System The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued their Quality Payment Program (QPP) Year 2 proposed rule, with a comment period through August 21, 2017. The Program’s main goals are to: Improve health outcomes Spend wisely Minimize the ...
Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, individuals have general rights to access and obtain a copy of their health information. Covered entities may require individuals to request access in writing (if individuals are informed of this requirement), or by electronic means (for example, via a patient ...
We all know how imperative it is to protect our patients’ PHI. And we all have policies and procedures in place (or should have) to ensure our providers, staff and business associates are following legal requirements surrounding uses and disclosures of PHI and ePHI. But are you monitoring to ...
What is a Business Associate, and how do we know if we need an agreement? As defined by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a Business Associate (BA) is “a person or entity that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health ...
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