This monthly update highlights key regulatory developments, enforcement trends, and compliance issues affecting health-care providers across the continuum – from solo practices to hospitals and large physician groups. Each section includes practical action items to help you assess risk and prepare for upcoming obligations.
HIPAA AND FEES FOR MEDICAL RECORDS – Updated OCR guidance sets limits.
Physicians and other HIPAA covered entity providers are familiar with HIPAA’s rule on fees that may be charged when individuals request copies of their medical records. The federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the enforcement agency for the HIPAA Privacy Rule, recently released updated guidance directives on when fees may be imposed and limitations on costs that may be included in assessing such fees. Medical practices, especially those with separate HIPAA and non-HIPAA medical record fee schedules, may be surprised at what the OCR is now saying.Continue Reading HIPAA and Fees For Medical Records
When one of our more tech savvy partners recently showed us his new Apple Watch, it instinctively raised questions as to how would HIPAA regulate its use. One possible answer is that the features of this new Apple Watch may be the linchpin to a whole new culture in the mobile health industry.Continue Reading Peeling Back the Apple Watch
On July 23rd the Iowa Behavioral Health Association (IBHA), Iowa’s statewide association of substance use disorder agencies, addiction treatment programs and community mental health centers, hosted prominent
That rule also includes standards and prohibitions that all physician licensees must comply with in providing patient care whether by telemedicine
UPDATE: Subsequent to this post the IBM has adopted the Telemedicine Rule. See our page dedicated to Telemedicine for all related articles, including our most current post.
The Iowa Board of Medicine (IBM) has
Review of In the Interest of A.M. v. Thomas, Iowa Supreme Court, November 21, 2014
Summary. In a case it calls one of first impression, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a subpoena to compel the testimony of a psychotherapist regarding the
The October 24, 2014 posting (last in this series) addresses practical considerations for physicians using telemedicine, in meeting several of the proposed rule’s requirements as well as the proposed rule’s specific requirements re: financial interests, links to internet sites, prohibited relationships with preferred pharmacies, and prohibited internet transactions for prescribing controlled substances.
Requirements (standards) for
The October 23, 2014 post addresses the proposed rule’s requirement for disclosures and functionality of telemedicine services and other provisions of the proposed rule that may be less the responsibility of physicians who use telemedicine and more the responsibilities of entities that purchase, offer and maintain telemedicine equipment and services.
C.M.S. has issued a short statement identifying that the new ICD-10 start date is October 1, 2015. According to C.M.S., it expects HHS “to release an informational rule in the near future that will include a new compliance date that would require the use of ICD-10 beginning Oct. 1, 2015.” Until then, HIPAA-covered entities