CMS

If you are a covered entity health plan or clearinghouse, you may be among the nine (un)lucky entities randomly chosen this month for review into compliance with HIPAA’s Administrative Simplification…
Continue Reading Feeling Lucky? You Could Be One of the Nine Covered Entities Selected for HIPAA Compliance Review this Month

Medicare beneficiaries whose healthcare providers participate in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) under the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) may want to add the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services…
Continue Reading “No” to ACO Data Sharing? Proposed Rules Tweak Medicare Beneficiary Opt-Out Notice Procedure

While the undertakings of a Medicare ACO and the terminology in the Data Use Agreement for protection of patient data may differ from those of covered entities, business associates and subcontractors and their BAAs under the HIPAA/HITECH regulations, they have many striking similarities and purposes.
Continue Reading HIPAA “Mega Rule”, Meet “Super BAA”: The CMS Data Use Agreement

Make the lengthy wait for the long-awaited HIPAA/HITECH Mega Rule more enjoyable by participating in a contest to predict the date of its publication in the Federal Register and the number of its pages.
Continue Reading As We All Continue to Anticipate the HIPAA/HITECH “Mega Rule” from HHS, We Can Test Our Prognosticating Skills

Two new provisions in the Stage 2 “meaningful use” criteria measure the meaningful use required for provider incentive payments based not simply on the providers’ use of EHR, but on their patients’ use of it.
Continue Reading Patients’ “Meaningful Use” of Electronic Health Information Proposed as Core Measure for Provider Incentive Payments from Feds

If the PHI flowing through information superhighways and into and out of clouds and other data bases is adequately secured and the increased use and sophistication of health information technology results in improved quality and reduced cost, can anyone reasonably object to this race?
Continue Reading Protected Health Information on HIT Super-Highways: If it’s Secure, Do We Care Where it Travels and How it is Used When it Lands?