Utah Medicaid Claims Data Hacked Affecting Over 24,000 The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) has experienced a data breach of its Medicaid claims data of over 24,000 individuals. The breach was reported to UDOH by the Utah Technology Services Department on Monday, April 2nd, and while...
NeHC Releases Roadmap for Growth and Evolution of HIE, and Legal HIE Listed as a Helpful Resource! Following ONC’s release of its Program Information Notice “Privacy and Security Framework Requirements and Guidance for State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program,”...
Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM Ramps Up HIE With electronic health information exchange (“HIE”) leaping out of the 132-page Meaningful Use Stage 2 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Stage 2 NPRM), it is clear that while Stage 2 will continue to afford flexibility to eligible professionals...
Proposed Rule for Meaningful Use Stage 2 Released Yesterday, the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Proposed Rule was made available on the Office of the Federal Register Electronic Public Inspection Desk. The Proposed Rule will be published March 7 and will be open for public comment for sixty...
HITECH Omnibus and AOD Rules Set for OMB Review Health Data Management reports that the long-awaited HITECH Omnibus Rule as well as the Accounting of Disclosures (AOD) Rule are set for OMB review. Expected also are proposed regulations for Meaningful Use Stage 2. HHS released its...
“Tapping” Apps for Physician Advice: No Waiting Room Necessary This past week, I stumbled across a fascinating article by Michael Millenson on the Health Care Blog (originally on Forbes.com) that I almost bypassed entirely. Described as a “social media darling”, the article focused on...
State AG Brings First HIPAA Lawsuit Against Business Associate Last month, I posted how treatment of business associates during HIPAA investigations remains unclear as well as assignment of liability for breaches of PHI. A final “omnibus rule” is expected to clarify the HITECH business...
CMS Provides Guidance on Meaningful Use Appeals Process CMS has released additional guidance for hospitals and eligible professionals on the Medicare EHR Incentive Program appeals process. The CMS Office of Clinical Standards and Quality (OCSQ), together with Provider Resources, Inc.,...
Over billion paid in Meaningful Use Incentive Payments and Counting In a report submitted to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee on January 10th, CMS highlighted progress in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs (“Meaningful Use”) and registration and...
Yet Another Class-Action Filed After Breaches of Patient Data In what appears to be the trend in California for 2011, another class-action lawsuit has been filed, this time by patients of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Health System affected by a data breach in early...
OIG Releases New Fraud and Abuse Advisory Opinion Involving EHR Data Exchange On December 7, 2011, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an Advisory Opinion regarding a proposed coordination service to facilitate the electronic exchange of data for patient referral...
OCR Director Reaffirms Commitment to Strengthening Privacy and Security of EHRs It’s no secret that since the days of its enactment, HIPAA enforcement has been lacking on both civil and criminal fronts from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). However,...
California HIE Demonstration Projects to Move Ahead with Opt-In Framework This past Wednesday, the California Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII) released a comprehensive whitepaper examining patient consent and other HIE framework efforts for entities participating in the...
Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Suit for Damages under the Privacy Act The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments tomorrow, November 30, in a suit for damages under the Privacy Act stemming from a wrongful disclosure of confidential information. Federal Aviation...
HIPAA Auditor Responsible for Breach in 2010 In June of 2010, a large healthcare system was informed by its business associate that a breach had occurred, affecting thousands of patients at its hospital. The breach had occurred the previous month when an employee of the business...