Are Cloud-based HIEs Subject to Twitter-Google-Facebook-like Subpoenas? In a recent New York Times article, Google, Twitter and other internet companies raise concerns regarding the wave of requests they receive for customer data from law enforcement agencies. Last year, Google counted...
HHS Announces New Funding to Help States Implement Affordable Care Act Posted today on HHS’ Website: Today, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new funding opportunity for grants to help states continue their work to implement a key provision of the...
ACO Pilots for New Jersey — Will they “fly”? The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (NJHCQI) brought together several distinguished experts to discuss the development of and implications for the new accountable care organization (ACO) models and rules being established on a...
Think you are Exempt from the Red Flags Rule? … Don’t Take Your Red Flags Down So Fast. Prepared by Krystyna Nowik, Esq. Health care providers and the Identity Theft Red Flags and Address Discrepancies Final Rule (“Red Flags Rule”) have had a drawn-out and bumpy history together....
(meta-data) “TAG, You-Are-It” (ONC, CMS, DHHS) ! This December 2010, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (“PCAST”) released its Report titled “Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology to Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward,”...
ACOs – Progressive HIEs, or Clinical Integration Déjà vu? During my (long) flight back from the Southwest yesterday, an article in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye. It was entitled “Embracing Incentives for Efficient Health Care” and prompted me to think about similarities...
Drug Database Firms Have Much to be Thankful for this Past Thanksgiving as Second Circuit says “Good-Bye” to Vermont’s Drug Marketing Restrictions On November 23, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its ruling that Vermont’s drug-marketing restrictions were...
The Spirit of Holiday Giving, er, Penalties… The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will be collecting a whopping $667,000 in administrative fines and penalties from six hospitals charged with privacy violations. The CDPH imposed penalties ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 on...
Just When You Think the Breach is Over, the Lawsuit Comes On November 16th, a class of plaintiffs sued AvMed for a massive breach that resulted in their personal information being put at risk. In December of 2009, unencrypted laptop computers were stolen from an AvMed facility in...
Another Kind of HIE — Health Insurance Exchanges & Recent NPRM The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in March 2010, requires states to establish Health Insurance Exchanges through which individuals and small businesses can purchase affordable insurance. Under the ACA, a state...
OPM May Delay Launch of Massive Fed Health Database In response to mounting privacy concerns, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may delay the proposed November 15th launch date of its Health Claims Data Warehouse. In early October, the OPM’s notice in the Federal Register...
NCVHS Defines What Sensitive Info HIEs Should Sequester Prepared by Krystyna Nowik, Esq. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) released an advisory letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on November 10 addressing recommendations for the...
ACLU Lawsuit Continues . . . Want Detailed Regulations Surrounding HIE Privacy The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suit against the Rhode Island Department of Health (RI-DOH) remains in litigation, awaiting completion of discovery. The ACLU alleges that...
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Info “Ok” to Go Over the summer, the ONC and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) held a session to discuss the application of the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations to electronic health information exchange through HIOs...
“Psychotherapy Notes” may Come Out From the Drawer Currently, “psychotherapy notes” remains a very, very narrowly defined term under the Privacy Rule, and does not include general mental health information, including progress notes. The exact definition is: Psychotherapy notes means...