All Blog Posts (1,644)

For an organization that needs to show HIPAA compliance; having the proper policies and procedures in place is as important as ensuring that it is providing the appropriate patient rights and controls on its uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI). It makes sense for an organization that is the subject of a compliance review or is being…

In the field of pharmaceuticals, instrumental liquid chromatography is an analysis widely used to determine purity, the impurities, and the degradation of products. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is the area on which most validation work is focused. However, auditors look for other areas, such as validation of the instrumentation and other associated items of column, solvents, and other reagents and chemicals.…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) newly released the Phase 2 Audit Program. The audit process has started with the release of the rules and protocols. The need for a clear understanding of this new audit program by all Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA), or for that matter anyone who accesses, uses or discloses Protected Health Information (PHI) is…

Exposure to silica dust is a serious health hazard for those in construction workers and related jobs. This can result in life long disease or even death due to lung cancer. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a new regulation that deals with what employers need to do in order to prevent and offset the damage caused by extensive exposure to…

When HIPAA investigations relating to ransomware breaches find malpractices; it can be total jolt that can absolutely devastate the said practice or business. Discovery of this kind of breach during a HIPAA investigation can cause a major financial burden, apart of course, from severe embarrassment and ignominy.

This means that practices and businesses that…

The combination of the implementation of new HIPAA regulations in the HIPAA Omnibus Update of 2013 and increased enforcement and audit activity has forced healthcare organizations to review their compliance and to ensure that they have the proper policies, procedures, and forms in place. Because of this, HIPAA Privacy Officers have been renewing their compliance activities and reviewing their documentation to make sure they can meet…

Statistical power may be understood as being an indicator of the ability of a test of significance to spot a practical difference, such as the one between the averages of two products that are being compared. In this context, a low power typically means that the sample sizes in the study are too small. Conclusion of what is “non-significant” is justifiably questionable when it is arrived at without an analysis of statistical power. For this reason, unless power is high, a study may be doomed…

The various programs of the CMS, such as Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation need to be given close attention if these programs have to be properly implemented. Healthcare professionals have to pay thorough and full attention to the structure and program-specific details.

This is the right time to start preparing, because the…

All the major players in an organization that is required to carry out HIPAA audits, such as information technology managers, business managers and compliance officers, have to be conversant with all aspects of the HIPAA Security Rule as it relates to portable devices. They need to be thoroughly clear about all areas such as…

Healthcare providers have to pay close attention to the structure and program-specific details on CMS's Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation. Since the first performance year for these programs begins on January 1, 2017 and payment adjustments will follow in 2019 (as the 2019 bonus/penalty adjustments will be based on the 2017…