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Health Information Compliance Alert
Health Information Compliance Alert
Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 12
Security:
3 Proven Tactics Protect Your Transcribed PHI
Use a security questionnaire to iron out your vendor's security rule wrinkles. If your me...
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Security Strategies:
Arm Yourself Against Security Breaches With This Strategy
Use your firewall to ward off malicious attacks. You already have the foundation to build...
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Security Strategies:
Set Your Vendors' Security Standards With This Form
Work with your tech team to develop and define your security needs. Your best security ru...
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Security Tip:
Prepare For a New Crop of Portable Devices
Use this list to catch all the new devices in your facility. A slew of portable devices a...
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Security:
Pump Up Your Purchasing Savvy to Avoid Security Rip Offs
Beware of products that claim to be "HIPAA compliant." Your security compliance hinges on...
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Security Compliance:
Respond to Your Security Breach in 4 Easy Steps
Here's how your employees can help you thwart data thieves. With the number of reported s...
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News:
FTC: Healthcare Providers Could Be Considered 'Creditors'
Federal Trade Commission pulls in health care entities but extends rule deadline. Healthc...
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Reader Questions:
Send Your NPP to Participants Only
Question: We work with an employer-sponsored health plan, but we are confused as to who s...
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Reader Questions:
YOU CAN USE WEB CAMERAS
Question: Our tech team wants to use voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and Web cameras ...
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Reader Questions:
CHOOSE ONE FEE FOR PATIENT COPIES
Question: We recently realized that our remote sites charge different amounts for patient...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 11
Compliance Update:
OIG Calls for Crackdown on Faulty HIPAA Security
Prepare for scrutiny of your security practices in 2009. Now's not the time to let your g...
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Compliance Update:
CMS Outlines E-prescribing Initiative in 2009 Physician Fee Schedule
Final Rule also spruces up PQRI incentives. Times are changing, and physicians and ne...
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Security:
Know What Contract Best Protects
When do TPAs fit better than BAAs? The answer may surprise you. A business associate agre...
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Security Compliance:
You Can Safely Send Instant Messages --" Here's How
Think sending instant messages will shut down your systems? Think again. Allowing your em...
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Security Strategies:
Don't Let an Emergency Wipe Out Your Security Compliance
Create a contingency plan that will prepare your staff members to handle any disaster. Do...
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Clip 'N' Save:
Use This Tool to Ensure Correct Documentation
Hold on to this information or kiss your security compliance goodbye. If you can't rattle...
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Security Tip:
Prepare to Accept These IM Security Risks
Your firewall won't catch viruses sent via an instant message. Instant messaging can stre...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Are We Violating Patient Privacy When We Call the Police?
Question: Our front line staff are excellent at calming upset patients, but recently one ...
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Reader Questions:
Protect PHI With Automatic, Locked Screensavers
Question: Our IT department wants to require that each workstation's password-protected s...
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Reader Questions:
Don't Withhold Patients' Medical Records
Question: A few of our patients have asked for a full, unedited copy of their medical rec...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 10
Transactions Update:
Mark Your Calendar: ICD-10 Could Hit in 2011 and Bring Massive Changes
Don't wait until the last minute to refit your systems. You're busy updating your superbi...
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You Be The Security Expert:
How Do You Handle An On-Site Privacy Rule Investigation?
Question: We're adding to our privacy compliance handbook a section on how to respond to ...
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Compliance:
OIG: You Can Hire a Contractor to Process Pre-Authorizations
But the arrangement mustn't induce referrals. If you abhor the tedious job of performing ...
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Compliance Strategies:
Top 3 Reasons to Keep Your Patients' PHI on U.S. Soil
Is offshoring an option for you? Here's how to find out. Your first question when contemp...
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Compliance Strategies:
Put Anti-Offshoring Measures in Perspective
Not every offshore data processor is a potential identity thief, but that doesn't mean you...
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Security:
Guard Against Internet Scams with These Expert Strategies
Keep your staffers on their toes with regular procedure updates and e-mail reminders. If ...
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Clip 'N' Save:
Use These Guidelines to Safeguard Against Internet Attacks
Send e-mail scams to the recycling bin with these tips. Think your employees know how to ...
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Internet Safety Tip:
Be On the Lookout for This Sinister Scam
You have every reason to worry that your patients could be tricked into divulging their i...
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Reader Questions:
CMS Offers You an
Question: I work for a large clinic, and we've struggled to implement the new ABN form. T...
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Reader Questions:
Mass E-mails Aren't No-Nos
Question: We would like to send a quarterly e-mail newsletter to our patients who have pr...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 9
Compliance Strategies:
6 Tips Streamline Your Accounting
Use this advice to ensure compliance during PHI leaks. If you can't recognize an incidenta...
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Security:
Here's How to Give 'Access Creep' the Ole Heave-Ho
Expert guidance helps you keep tabs on who's got access. Do you have a method to evaluate ...
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Privacy:
Don't Rely on Aliases to Protect Your Patients' PHI
You can protect your patients' information without changing their names. Picture it: Brad ...
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Security:
Depend On Dummy Data To Protect PHI During System Tests
Use this advice to ensure your patients' information gets used only when necessary. If you...
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Compliance Strategies:
6 Proven Methods Can Plug Portable Devices' Security Gaps
Find out how to keep your organization's data safe from unauthorized users. It can happen ...
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Reader Question:
Be Wary Of Teen Pregnancies
Question: A 16-year-old patient presented with flu-like symptoms. After running tests, we ...
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Reader Question:
Let Patients Request Staff Follow Ups
Question: Many of our critical care staff become attached to the patients they treat and w...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 8
Security:
3 Proven Methods Put The Brakes On Security Breaches
Train staff members to deal with violations before PHI winds up in the wrong hands. A sec...
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Compliance Strategies:
Rely On Your Sanctions Policy To Mitigate PHI Leaks
The sanctions you impose could determine your patients' reactions to inappropriate disclo...
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Privacy:
Expert Tips To Help You Cover Your Bill Collection Bases
Use our checklist to ensure your collector's compliance. The last thing you need to worry...
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Sanctions Tool:
Put Your Sanctions Savvy To The Test
Don't wait for a violation to test your ability to effectively use your sanctions policy t...
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Compliance Strategies:
5 Quick Tips to Quash Staffers' Common Compliance Mistakes
You can prevent your personnel's PHI transmission slip-ups-here's how. Do fax and e-mail ...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Can We Take Training To The Job Level?
Read the situation below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it to our ...
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Sample Policy:
Prevent Media Disposal Mishaps With This Policy
Train staffers on the appropriate steps to take when their hardware's time is up. A sound...
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Reader Question:
Sign Up To Protect Patient Privacy
Question: We would like patients to write down their date of birth or the last four digit...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 7
Enforcement:
Provider Slapped With First HIPAA Settlement -- And It's A Big One
You could be next, OCR official threatens. If you've been letting HIPAA concerns languish...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Do We Have To Agree To Patients' Restriction Requests?
Are different keys for inside and outside doors a security violation? Read the situation ...
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Compliance:
Take These 6 Steps To Shore Up Your HIPAA Compliance
Don’t let harsher enforcement catch you by surprise. Providers that have let the...
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Compliance Tips:
Cut The Cord On Your Wireless Patient Access Concerns
You can allow patients to use a wireless connection without ruining your compliance progr...
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Case Study:
Tips For Taming The Wireless Access Beast
Wireless networking isn't the technology bear it's made out to be. That's the attitude Fe...
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Compliance Strategies:
Consider All the Legal Aspects Before Implementing A Wellness Program
First step: Choose a participation-only or standard-based program. Having a company welln...
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Industry News:
Brace For Changes In The Appeals Process
Providers who submit claims to a Medicare fiscal intermediary will be operating under revi...
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Reader Question:
Avoid Severe Automatic Logoff Policies
Question: Our information systems department has asked that all workstations be set to au...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 6
Security:
5 Building Blocks to Construct a Secure Password Policy
Use these elements to keep your passwords -- and your patients' PHI -- out of sight There...
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Information Management:
Prepare for GINA By Starting to Implement Changes Now
Tip: Revise your employee documents to eliminate genetic info requests On May 21, Preside...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Do We Have To Agree To Patients' Restriction Requests?
Read the situation below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it to our ...
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Compliance Strategies:
How to Help Your Business Associates Protect PHI
Remember: You don't have to police your associates. You don't have to bend over backwards...
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Eli HealthcareCompliance Tips:
Take These Steps To Steer Visitors Away From PHI
You can open your organization to visitors -- here's how. Whether you allow anyone to loo...
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Sample Document:
Get Your Vendors On The Bandwagon With This Form
Protect your organization's PHI from sales pitches. Before another vendor enters your non...
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Industry News:
HHS Secretary Lauds Electronic Health Records Project
Selected groups to get cash rewards up to $290,000. Mike Leavitt, HHS secretary, applaude...
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Reader Questions:
Don't Deny Access to Your Deceased Patients' PHI
Question: The family of a recently deceased patient wants access to the patient's entire ...
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Reader Questions:
Put Your Grand Opening In the Public Eye
Question: Our doctors are opening a new location on the other side of our city. Can we se...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 5
Compliance:
4 Strategies Help You Grant Role-Based Access
You can stamp your patients' PHI 'for authorized eyes only' -- Here's how. Role-based acc...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Will Employees' Fitness Centers Become Business Associates?
Read the situation below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it to our ...
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Case Study:
Level Your Role-Based Access Playing Field In 3 Easy Steps
Professional advice helps you avoid access landmines. There is no perfect way to grant ro...
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Sample Policy:
Avoid Detours On The Way To Role-Based Access
Adapt these guidelines for temporary PHI rights. Your access policy shouldn't serve as a ...
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Technology:
Are You Using EMR Yet? Don't Get Left Behind
Here's how you can make interoperable records a reality. Think you have to sit back and w...
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Security Strategies:
How To Keep Your Outdated Hardware From Leaking PHI
Use these best practices when removing health information from your office. You know your...
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Industry News:
CMS Clarifies Hospice Signature Requirements
Also: Get advice from Medicare to discover differences between payment review programs. Y...
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In other news …
• Have you confused NCCI, MUE and CERT with one another? If this alphabet soup has you s...
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Reader Questions:
Avert Trauma By Protecting Surgery List
Question: We're a busy four-doctor orthopedic office, and our physicians are trauma surge...
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Reader Questions:
Look To States For Communicable Disease Rules
Question: An employee who works at our company has shingles and has been in contact with ...
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Reader Questions:
Spouse Gets Special Privileges Under HIPAA
Question: How does HIPAA affect married couples? Does HIPAA allow for more disclosure to ...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 4
National Provider Identifier:
Expect Denials If You Don't Have Referring Docs' NPIs
Are you ready for the May 23 deadline? When March 1 passed, many practices thought they w...
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Security:
5 Steps To Guarantee Your Security Measures Make The Grade
Professional guidance will ensure your security rule compliance -- before it's too late. ...
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You Be The Security Expert:
When Should We Distribute The NPP?
Question: The entire front-office staff collaborated on a fact sheet about the privacy an...
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Security Compliance:
Cork PHI Leaks In Staff E-Mail With These Key Tactics
Use these strategies to keep your compliance plan strong without breaking the bank. When ...
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Clip 'n' Save:
Use This Tool To Strip Your E-Mails Of Patients' PHI
Information that does not identify an individual is considered deidentified. That means th...
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Security Strategies:
Don't Assume PHI Is Safe In Staffers' Homes
5 tips help you protect your patients’ PHI in an unsecure environment. It seems ...
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Sample Policy:
Take Your Patients' PHI Out of the Scrap Heap
Don't depend on your staff to make sound on-the-spot decisions about patient e-mails. Use ...
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Reader Questions:
Keep Crimes From Killing Your Compliance Efforts
Question: Law enforcement officers recently contacted us about a patient who was treated ...
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Reader Questions:
FTP Won't TKO Your Security Rule Compliance
Question: Our staffers want to use file transfer protocol (FTP) to send patients' confide...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 3
Security Strategies:
Check Your Security Plan For These Safety Measures
Visitors could be downloading PHI right under your nose. Safeguarding your practice from ...
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Security Tool:
Review Your Security Compliance With This Risk Assessment Checklist
Handy form helps you estimate your practice's vulnerabilities. You know it's time for a s...
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Medicare:
Don't Let These NPI Traps Kill Your Cash Flow
No news might turn into really bad news -- soon. Now's the time to sound a loud warning i...
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Compliance Strategies:
Allow Patients Access To PHI With These Compliance Tips
Your response to PHI requests could save your compliance program. The privacy rule gives ...
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Health Information Update:
PSOs Get The Word Out On Patient Safety Data
HHS makes good on vow to provide better access to patient safety data. The Department of ...
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You Be The Security Expert:
What Do We Do When Our Manager Won't Enforce HIPAA?
Question: What is the duty of a compliance officer whose organization refuses to enforce H...
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Reader Questions:
Get Signed Consent For Inmate's PHI
Question: Our hospital recently treated an inmate of the county correctional facility. Ca...
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Reader Questions:
Traveling Nurse Should Use Discretion
Question: We have a traveling nurse who works at several hospitals in the same town. Can ...
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Reader Questions:
Investigate Audit's Security Breaches
Question: We have begun auditing our computer systems. Through the audit logs, we discove...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 2
Compliance:
Have Your HIPAA Practices Gone Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
The government has convicted HIPAA violators " make sure you're not at risk. HIPAA compli...
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NPI Update:
Don't Overlook March Deadline For NPIs
Warning: If you fail to use your NPI by March 1, your Medicare claims won't pay. Provider...
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Security Strategies:
5 Security Rule Misconceptions That Could Land You In Hot Water
Let our experts guide you through the security rule's gray areas. Are you sure you're int...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Do We Have To Report All Employee Contact With Patients' PHI
Read the situation below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it to our e...
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Regulations:
What The Regs Say About... Flexibility Of Approach
Here's what the final HIPAA security rule says about the amount of flexibility your facil...
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Security Tip:
Defend Patients' PHI With Shredders
Put shredder where it will be utilized most. If an identity thief nabs some of a patient'...
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Compliance:
How Careful Are You With Your Patients' Test Results?
10 tips on making sure patients, physicians see test results. If you're not vigilant abou...
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Education:
Give Your Brain A Boost With A Quick Audioconference
Log on to audioeducator.com to see which Eli-sponsored audioconferences you need. Brus...
Read more
Reader Questions:
Authorize Release For Employer Drug Tests
Question: A patient came in for a drug test that was initiated and paid for by her employ...
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Reader Questions:
Don't Throw Out Those Training Records
Question: Does the privacy rule mandate that we keep our training documentation, like sig...
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Reader Questions:
Guardian Can Deny PHI Access
Question: One of our minor patients wants a copy of her medical records; however, her cus...
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Reader Questions:
Is Information On White Boards
Question: Our clinical nursing and therapy staff would like to install white boards in se...
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Health Information Compliance Alert - 2008; Volume 8, Number 1
Compliance:
Think a PHI Release Authorization Is Forever? Think Again
Here's how to make sure your authorization hasn't expired. One year ago, your patient sig...
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NPI Update:
Verify Your Legacy Numbers To Speed Payment
You may be seeing claims rejections if you're not on top of NPI issues. As of Jan. 1, Medi...
Read more
Information Management:
Keep Your Staff Up On The Latest With Online Manuals
Here's how two facilities make policy updates a click away. Electronically accessible man...
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You Be The Security Expert:
Does The Privacy Rule Apply To Physician Phone Calls?
Read the question below and decide how you would handle it before you compare it to our ex...
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Security Strategies:
Keep Staff On Same HIPAA Page With Set Sanctions
Applying sanctions consistently when employees disclose PHI is most effective. Suppose a ...
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Clip & Save:
Easily Track Expiration Dates With A Tickler System
3 tips for continual readiness. With standard HR.1.20, The Joint Commission requires that...
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Security Tips:
Create A Failsafe Procedure To Protect Office From Leaks, Viruses
Train staff to recognize and eradicate Internet scams. Staying on top of viruses and hoax...
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Continuing Education:
Boost Your Brain With A Quick Audioconference
Go to audioeducator.com to find out more. Brushing up on your business skills doesn&rs...
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Reader Questions:
Submitting Electronic Claims? Use A BAA
Question: We are moving to electronic billing but currently submit paper claims. Do we ne...
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Reader Questions:
Vendor Should Certify Practice's System
Question: What's the best way to verify that our new practice management system is HIPAA ...
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Reader Questions:
Assess Employee's Reasons
Question: One of our nurses has been copying and taking home our physicians' daily schedu...
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