Access to EHR Notes Lauded by Patients, Providers
From article in in the May issue of HealthLeaders magazine. In a pilot, a system which permits patients to view all the notes in their electronic health records was such a hit with hospital patients and physicians that Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Geisinger Health System are dramatically expanding their OpenNotes programs. Possibly [...]
Read moreHIPAA Final Rule Raises Fines for Non-Compliance
By Dom Nicastro, HealthLeaders Media, January 22, 201 The HIPAA omnibus final rule released by the Department of Health & Human Services January 17 will cost hospitals some time and money in regulation analysis, training, and policy revision, but shouldn’t break the bank, healthcare leaders and privacy and security experts say. The HIPAA “mega rule,” [...]
Read moreNational Health Information Exchange: Why The Delay?
From November 5, 2012 article on InformationWeek.com Hurricane Sandy took many lives and caused billions of dollars in damage. But so does a healthcare system that still refuses to embrace interoperability. There’s nothing like a common enemy or problem to bring people together. In the days since Hurricane Sandy, we’ve witnessed countless acts of heroism [...]
Read moreAnother Big Fine After a Small Breach
HIPAA Investigation Leads to Sanctions From post on GovInfo Security web site For the second time in three months, federal authorities have issued a hefty financial penalty stemming from a HIPAA compliance investigation after a relatively small breach. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has entered a settlement with Massachusetts [...]
Read moreOpt-In Policy Best For HIE Patient Privacy
Article by Ken Terry – InformationWeek July 05, 2012 10:38 AM Healthcare providers have yet to agree on the best way to protect the privacy of personal health information (PHI) in health information exchanges (HIEs), but John Halamka, MD, has an opinion. As CIO at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Halamka recently [...]
Read moreElectronic Submission of Medical Docs Trial Goes Live
Article posted March 13, 2012 on HealthLeadersMedia.com A year ago this month, CMS announced its esMD tool, which is an option for providers to electronically send medical documentation that is requested of them by recovery auditors and other government entities contractors. Phase 1 of esMD kicked off on September 15, 2011. During this period, providers [...]
Read moreHHS Secretary Sebelius Confirms ICD-10 Deadline to be Postponed
From February 17th article posted on HealthLeaders Media Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday that the federal government will delay for an unspecified time the implementation date for the ICD-10 diagnostic and procedural coding system. In a media release Thursday afternoon, Sebelius said federal officials were acting on providers’ concerns “about the [...]
Read moreEHRs Linked to Errors, Harm, AMA Says
From InformationWeek article by Ken Terry A new AMA report on patient safety in ambulatory care finds that safety problems are widespread but that little is known about which problems cause the most harm. Among the uncertainties cited by the AMA researchers is the contribution of electronic health records (EHRs) to patient safety. “The use [...]
Read moreThe Alphabet Soup of Medical Information: EHR, EMR and PHR
Many people have tossed around the terms EHR and EMR as being one and the same and indeed, they are similar. Add to the mix the acronym PHR too; however, they are not the same thing and it’s essential that all service providers from medical transcriptionists to software vendors and users know what the differences [...]
Read moreWhat is encryption and how does it make a file secure?
Encryption is a security measure to ensure that a file is locked from any unwanted viewers. It basically locks a file and prevents anyone from viewing the file until it has been decrypted. When you use encryption software to lock a file (like GearXport) a security code is generated. You will only be able to [...]
Read more