Home Health & Hospice Week
Record-Breaking HIPAA Settlement Announced
As 2014 ended and 2015 began, private payer Anthem Inc. suffered the biggest HIPAA violation of all time, when hackers usurped the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 79 million individuals. Now, the organization has agreed to pay the HHS Office for Civil Rights the largest HIPAA settlement of all time. For the large-scale cyberattack, Anthem will shell out $16 million to the feds for the lost data that included such sensitive information as names, social security numbers, medical IDs, addresses, emails, and other personal details. This payout triples the past leader, a settlement of $5.5 million from 2016, the OCR noted. “The largest health data breach in U.S. history fully merits the largest HIPAA settlement in history,” says OCR Director Roger Severino in a release on the case. “Unfortunately, Anthem failed to implement appropriate measures for detecting hackers who had gained access to their system to harvest passwords and steal people’s private information.” He went on to warn organizations that failing to implement “strong password policies” and report incidents “in a timely fashion” would bring the wrath of the OCR, the release suggested.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Payment:
Home Health Pay Error Rate Drops Dramatically To 17.6%
Don’t expect the lower rate to translate to easier oversight, however. After years of being [...] - Hospice:
Tougher Surveys May Be Ahead, Thanks To OIG Probes
Are you ready for your survey results to end up on Hospice Compare? With Medicare [...] - Billing:
Get Familiar With New Claims Requirement For County Code
Don’t let new claim element slow your cash flow in the new year. Make sure [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
Dallas & Detroit Cases Rack Up Convictions, Guilty Pleas, And Prison Sentences
Three more guilty pleas entered in Novus case. Nine defendants are on track for a [...] - Reimbursement:
Polish Your Appeals Practices To Rescue Reimbursement
Investing in your appeals process is worth the payoff. Receiving some denials may be all [...] - Industry Note:
Mind Your POC Signatures Or Face Denials
Reviewers want to see it all, MAC emphasizes. Make sure you aren’t committing this common [...] - Industry Note:
HIS Guidance Has Changed, But HIS Items Have Not
Access new guidance on completing Hospice Item Set questions accurately in the updated HIS Manual. [...] - Industry Note:
See Your HH PPS Rates For 2019
You can see a summary of your 2019 HH PPS payment rates and policies in [...] - Industry Note:
Accessing CWF To Get More Complicated
If you want to use the Common Working File, soon you’ll need to undergo verification [...] - Industry Note:
Wildfire-Impacted Agencies Qualify For OASIS Waiver
Home health agencies affected by the wildfires in California can take advantage of a blanket [...] - Industry Note:
Enrollment Application Fee Makes Big Jump
If you thought $569 was a hefty application fee for Medicare enrollment for institutional providers [...] - Industry Note:
OCR Updates HIPAA Audit Protocols
With little fanfare and no release, the HHS Office for Civil Rights has updated its [...] - Industry Note:
Record-Breaking HIPAA Settlement Announced
As 2014 ended and 2015 began, private payer Anthem Inc. suffered the biggest HIPAA violation [...]
