A patient requests a copy of her medical record, and the hospital charges the per-page amount permitted under state law. Does this violate HIPAA? It may.
In the spring of 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that enforces HIPAA, issued a new guidance
This post, written by my colleague Elizabeth Hampton, originally appeared on Garden State Gavel, a new blog focusing on New Jersey litigation topics.
Fraud is on the rise in every industry and the lengths that some people will go to make money by “gaming”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill (S.562) into law on January 9, 2015 that will impose a standard more stringent than HIPAA on health insurance carriers authorized (i.e., licensed) to issue health benefits plans in New Jersey. Effective August 1, 2015, such carriers will be required to secure computerized records that include certain
In accordance with the 90-day deadline established for an operating plan to be submitted to Congress on expenditures related to the $2 Billion Dollars appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA") relating to health information technology ("HIT"), the Office of the National Coordinator ("ONC") has submitted its proposed ARRA Implementation Plan to Congress. The Plan’s proposed Funding Table
On December 15, 2008, the Division of Consumer Affairs ("DCA") published its Notice of Pre-Proposed Rule for "Identity Theft, Written Security Programs and Violations." Comments to the Pre-Proposed Rule are due February 13, 2009.
The pre-proposed Subchapter 3 seeks to require every business and every public entity to implement a comprehensive written information security "program" that includes
The National Health Information Network (NHIN) may get information moving as early as the first quarter of 2009. In its December 16th Press Release, the Social Security Administration (SSA) indicates that it will begin receiving medical records for some disability applicants via the "MedVirginia" health information exchange (HIE) based in Richmond.
SSA and MedVirginia were also among
Assemblyman Herb Conaway introduced legislation (A 3368) today that would establish an electronic Health Information Technology ("e-HIT") Fund to be used to implement the objectives of the Statewide health information technology plan. The Bill proposes that beginning April 1, 2009, and on a quarterly basis thereafter, each health care payer will pay a "technology reinvestment fee"
Health Data Management reported yesterday that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey will commit up to $500,000 to help select hospitals in its New Jersey network adopt electronic medication history technology. This would give physicians real-time medication histories when patients check into a hospital or emergency department. Under the program, Horizon will pay for
In a June 10 HHS News Release, Secretary Mike Leavitt named the 12 communities that will participate in a 5-year national Medicare demonstration project that provides incentive payments to physicians for using certified electronic health records (EHR) to improve the quality of patient care (the "EHR Demo Project"). The communities selected to work with the CMS
May 23 is the compliance date for the National Provider Identifier (NPI) to be used exclusively for electronic health care claims under HIPAA. Providers who do not use their assigned NPI after this date may find health insurers starting to reject and return electronic claims. Although millions of NPI numbers have been issued, it is unclear how may