First, let me start with questions I asked at the close of Part 1. How does your organization manage security and its risks? Do you have a governance process in place, is it comprehensive, requirements driven, with the risks communicated, understood and mitigation plans developed and reviewed? Can you adequately answer these questions? If you […]
Regulatory Compliance
Oh, Say Can You ONC?
Providers and patients should be comfortable that their Health IT systems are secure, confidential, play well with other systems and functional. To enable this, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has appointed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the certifying body that blesses each […]
ICD-10 Revenue Neutrality: Health Outcomes and Cost
As the October 1, 2013, deadline for ICD-10 compliance gets closer, the Revenue Cycle Management will surface as the next Healthcare Organization show stopper. ICD-10 clinical specificity will better position Providers to accurately identify actual conditions and treatment, but reimbursement accuracy will require verification of acceptable variance utilizing historical ICD-9 coding, billing and receivable data. […]
Facing and Overcoming the 2012 #HealthIT Challenges Amidst the End of the World – Part I of 2
Background Healthcare providers and eligible primary physician practices are undergoing analysis paralysis because of all the government impositions on improving healthcare with the following list of complex problems to solve: HIPAA’s Version 5010 conversion, ICD-10 migrations, Meaningful Use (MU) of EHRs and Attestation , Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) , Data Aggregation and mining for successful […]
Does your data pass the Snopes test?
If you are reading this blog, you are a heavy internet user. While browsing, you have probably run across several statements of fact that were later proven to be false. Most of you also know about Snopes.com, a website that claims to be the “definitive internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and […]
The Importance of Being Earnest about Security in Healthcare, Part 1
In Healthcare, we talk about how important security is, all the while secretly hoping and assuming that, as an organization, we’re in compliance and have all the appropriate safeguards in place. When discussing compliance, at the very least this refers to the baseline set by the HIPAA Security Rule and the many contractual obligations we […]
Will you protect PHI or Leave Patients Naked to the World?
Intimate medical details about your health is no longer stored safely in a dusty locked file cabinet. Thanks to the HITECH Act of 2009, your private health information will end up in data files that hundreds of healthcare workers may have the ability to access. However, in early 2003 the Department of Health and Human […]
Were you ready for HIPAA 5010?
Hopefully everyone answered ‘yes’ and you had a smooth transition. In this blog we will discuss some of the items we need to keep in mind when either transitioning or implementing EDI. Whether you are getting ready to transition to a new standard or initiating EDI for the first time, remember the most important thing […]
ICD-10 Systems Remediation: The Countdown is on
In preparation for satisfying the ICD-10 medical diagnosis and inpatient procedure coding on October 1, 2013, Healthcare organizations will need to indentify all instances of ICD-9 codes that are maintained within the application logic of supporting business systems as a component of their ICD-10 Compliance Agenda. Impacted systems will include, but are not limited to, […]
Key to Successful ICD-10 Transition Begins with the Impact Assessment
It is no surprise that many healthcare organizations have not yet begun planning for the highly anticipated ICD-10 transition. Many believe that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) will postpone the October 1, 2013, deadline, allowing for some wiggle room in implementation. Unfortunately the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. To date, […]
Is it Time to Embrace ICD-10?
A recent post by ICD-10 Watch sums up the ICD-10 struggle well: “ICD-10 coding is a tough sell” and “great healthcare is in the data”. Weinberger points out that providers are stretched to their limits with the many other healthcare reforms and feel like the benefits of adopting ICD-10 simply aren’t there. However, the ICD-10 […]
Pay-for-performance and Readmissions Solutions
According to the AHRQ, there are an approximate 4.4 million preventable discharges which contribute to $30 billion in healthcare costs annually. Beginning in October 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid will begin punishing hospitals by withholding reimbursements to hospitals with higher-than-average readmission rates for patients with three types of diagnoses or health issues: 1. […]