Roger Steven's Blog – October 2017 Archive (8)

Security Officers or Compliance Officers have their task cut out when it comes to HIPAA implementation. With the changes taking place at the Health and Human Services (HHS) in relation to HIPAA enforcement; both Covered Entities and Business Associates need to insulate themselves from being vulnerable to audit risk. Any small letup will allow individuals whose PHI has been wrongfully disclosed due to bad IT or internal…

Hypertension is the silent killer of our times. Over thirty million Americans -one eleventh of the entire country’s population -suffer from this condition. It is rightly termed the silent killer because not only does it not show obvious symptoms; it works silently against the system when it is present. Neglected hypertension is a sure cause for strokes and heart attacks.

There is a highly undesirable, but strong and almost irrefutable link between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and…

In the dozen years from the time of its enactment, change in thinking has been one of the palpable aspects of HIPAA. The advising and counseling outlook that characterized the initial years of its existence is now history. HIPAA is today noted for its very stringent and arm-twisting attitude. Its methods of enforcement are dreaded, to put it mildly. The coaxing and wheedling method used by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is now passé. The OCR is extremely unrelenting in its expectations…

A Physician Extender is one who is not a physician, but is of a lesser qualification, who helps physicians by carrying out many activities usually carried out by physicians. As the name suggests, Physician Extenders work to supplement the functions of a physician and could take a considerable load off her shoulders. In most cases, an advanced nurse practitioner or a physician assistant work as a Physician Extender.

A nurse practitioner is usually prepared and trained to impart the…

As health information grows, sharing it among healthcare providers and researchers is necessary for providing and advancing healthcare services and healthcare research. But the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 severely limits how Protected Health Information (PHI) can be shared. It also has restrictions regarding how to protect it…

In a scenario where today’s healthcare environment is fast paced, diverse and straddle many disciplines; retention and disposition of medical records -both paper and electronic -is fraught with complexities. There are different rules set out by the state agencies, as well as by HIPAA statutes and regulations, for the way in which medical records need to be retained…

A proper understanding of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) is completely necessary for healthcare providers and professionals.  It is among the strongest weapons in the government arsenal for enforcing the federal fraud and abuse laws. Along with Stark II (the federal physician anti-referral law), the Anti-Kickback Statute can be and is being used as the basis for an action brought under the Federal False Claims…

The major reason for which there are widespread violations of the HIPAA Rules for communicating with patients by unencrypted email and text message is that healthcare providers and Covered Entities and their Business Associates are ignorant of the rules. Although the HIPAA Rules are pretty straightforward and easy to follow; providers and Business Associates who don’t implement them in accordance…