Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) began listing more detailed and easier-to-understand information about certified health information technology (health IT).
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By Bob Grant – The HHS Office for Civil Rights released an updated Audit Protocol that it plans to use while investigating health care entities for HIPAA compliance. The biggest change to the audit protocol is the distinction that OCR has made between what’s required of Business Associates and Covered Entities.
By Bob Grant – The HHS Office for Civil Rights announced that NY Presbyterian Hospital would be required to pay a $2.2M settlement after the “egregious disclosure” of two patients’ protected health information. NYP allowed an ABC film crew and staff from the show “NY Med” to film two patients, one of whom was dying, and another experiencing serious distress.
At Health Datapalooza, HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced a challenge to encourage health care organizations, designers, developers, digital tech companies and other innovators to design a medical bill that’s simpler, cleaner, and easier for patients to understand, and to improve patients’ experience of the overall medical billing process.
By Dr. Larry Garber response to the HHS request for an assessment of interoperability needed to support MACRA. I am writing as a practicing physician, an implementer of EHRs, a designer/developer/director of EHRs and health information exchanges (HIEs), and a participant in standards development processes.
By Matt Fisher – It has been a frequent message that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been providing numerous HIPAA lessons over the past few years through settlement announcements.
By Chad Terhune – The head of Aetna Inc., the nation’s third-largest health insurer, said he supports insurance exchanges, even though he questioned their sustainability earlier this month and lost money in the marketplaces last year.
By Julie Appleby – Medicare plans to test new ways to pay for prescription medications given in doctors’ offices and hospital outpatient centers — moves likely to win praise from some policy experts, but opposition from facilities and practitioners.
The AMA pledged to work with HHS to improve the flow of electronic health information to patients and physicians to increase data sharing that will achieve healthier people and smarter spending.