HIPAA Articles and Resources
News and Important Information
HIPAA Violation Penalties Revised
A summary of the HIPAA law is included in Find-A-Code's specialty specific Reimbursement Guides as well as the ChiroCode DeskBook
A more thorough explanation can be found in the Complete & Easy HIPAA Compliance book which also includes editable and sample forms
There are 1 sections in the Guide.
Select the title to see a summary and a link to the full article. some articles require a subscription to view.
Feb 14th, 2024
Information Sharing with the Feds is Risky Business
by David M. Glaser, Esq.
Over the last few weeks, a few articles of mine addressed interacting with government agents. One topic that I did not discuss was determining whether you can, should, or must share information with the government. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to definitively answer that question for every topic, even in...
by Geoff Koslig
As a provider, a question worth asking yourself these days is this: what degree of risk is there that you might have something on your website that could lead to a multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit and a determination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for...
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) have gone back and forth on whether or not to use data collected from telehealth, virtual Care, and telephone (audio-only) encounters with Medicare beneficiaries for risk adjustment reporting, but the following published documents from CMS cleared that up once and for all by providing an answer to a question specifically related to this question.
by Find-A-Code™
HIPAA covers nearly every aspect of how medical and personal information is collected, utilized, shared, and stored within the healthcare industry. Title II of the rules is applied directly to medical billing companies and independent coders. The 'Big 2' rules that medical billing companies must adhere to revolve around privacy and security.
Jul 7th, 2022
New Audio-Only Telehealth Guidance to Meet HIPAA Rules
by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Covered entities (healthcare providers and health plans) can use remote communications, called telehealth, to provide services to patients as long as they follow certain guidelines. Because certain populations may have difficulty using audio-video telehealth, HHS is now issuing this guidance on audio-only telehealth. This guidance will help ensure that individuals can continue to benefit from audio-only telehealth by clarifying how covered entities can provide telehealth services and improve public confidence that covered entities are protecting the privacy and security of patients' health information.
by CMS - MLNConnects
News - Comprehensive Error Rate Testing Program Report: Sample Reduced for Reporting Year 2023 - Men’s Health: Talk to Your Patients About Preventive Services - Compliance - Implanted Spinal Neurostimulators: Document Medical Records - Claims, Pricers, & Codes - ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes: Fiscal...
by Chelsea Richwine and Christian Johnson
New ONC data show that, as of 2021, nearly all non-federal acute care hospitals were enabled to electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS). According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology (IT) Supplement Survey, the proportion of non-federal acute care hospitals enabled for EPCS increased from 67% in...
by Raquel Shumway
DynamiCare Health Inc. has developed a contingency management program for those dealing with substance use disorders. DynamiCare Health Inc. has developed a contingency management program for those dealing with substance use disorders. CM “addresses the brain’s reward response in ways that conventional counseling and medications often cannot.” Over a course of 50 years, it has shown that this program is effective. The OIG, upon analysis, has determined that there is low risk for fraud and abuse and has offered their opinion at the request of DynamiCare Health, Inc.
Mar 10th, 2022
Cybersecurity & Ransomware Warnings
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Although HIPAA Security protocols have been in effect for some time, as technology advances, if we are not diligent, gaps can be left available for intruders. On top of that, on February 23, 2022, the American Hospital Association issued a cybersecurity advisory. They stated, “there is concern that Russia may retaliate against the U.S. and allied nations with disruptive cyberattacks.”
Jan 11th, 2021
HIPAA Penalty Changes
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
On January 5, 2021, H.R. 7898 was signed into law by President Trump. This new law modifies the HITECH Act such that when an organization experiences a breach, fines and/or penalties may be reduced if (for at least a year) they have instituted “recognized security practices” as defined within the law.
Jul 7th, 2020
New ABN Form is Here
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
The anticipated changes to the Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage (ABN) Form (CMS-R-131) have arrived. This important form is issued to the patient or client by providers, physicians, practitioners, and suppliers in situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. You can begin using the new ABN immediately if you so wish. However, it becomes mandatory on August 31, 2020.
Nov 12th, 2019
HIPAA Final Rule Eliminates HPID and OEID
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Final rule eliminates the requirement for health plans to obtain a unique health plan identifier (HPID) and also eliminates the voluntary use of the other entity identifier (OEID). This change becomes effective December 27, 2019.
Oct 11th, 2019
Why is HIPAA So Important?
by NAMAS
Why is HIPAA So Important?
Some may think that what they do to protect patient information may be a bit extreme. Others in specialty medical fields and research understand its importance a little more. Most of that importance lies in the information being protected. Every patient has a unique set of ...
Jun 21st, 2019
Small Breaches Can Be Subject to Large Penalties
by NAMAS
Small Breaches Can Be Subject to Large Penalties
We may have heard about the large fines issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against big organizations like Anthem or the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. These organizations have been in the news due to privacy breaches that constituted violations ...
May 6th, 2019
HIPAA Violation Penalties Revised
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
On April 30, 2019 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that “HHS will apply a different cumulative annual CMP limit for each of the four penalties tiers in the HITECH Act.” Unlike other notices which require a proposed rule with a comment period, this notice will take ...
Apr 15th, 2019
Watch out for People-Related ‘Gotchas’
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
In Chapter 3 — Compliance of the ChiroCode DeskBook, we warn about the dangers of disgruntled people (pages 172-173). Even if we think that we are a wonderful healthcare provider and office, there are those individuals who can and will create problems. As frustrating as it may be, there are ...
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
Adherence to ICD-10-CM official guideline's are required under HIPAA and adopted for all healthcare settings. We have made it easy to access guidelines and made them available on the code information page, either on the page you are viewing or view more information by selecting the ICD-10-CM Chapter Section/Guidelines and ...
Dec 18th, 2018
Are HIPAA Changes Coming?
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
On December 14, 2018, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information (RFI). They are considering making changes to some of the HIPAA regulations. Earlier this year at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) meeting, Roger Severino, the head of the Office for Civil Rights ...
Sep 24th, 2018
Q/A: Do I Have to Accept Any New Patient?
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Question: Is it legal for us to not allow a patient to be seen in our office if their parents have bad debt with us?
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued updates to the privacy regulations regarding the confidentiality of patient information of substance use disorder patients (42 CFR Part 2). This notice included references to better alignment with HIPAA regulations, but did state that Part 2 is more protective ...
There are 10 related documentation, coding and billing tips.
Select the title to see a summary and a link to the full webinar information. some webinars require a subscription to view.
May 5th, 2022
Do Minor Procedures Feel like Major Work?
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Apr 14th, 2022
Reporting Telemedicine Services by Aimee Wilcox
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
by Ron Short, DC MCS-P CPC
We have all heard of the S.O.A.P. format for our documentation. But what does each element mean and what additional information do we need in our documentation? In this webinar Dr. Ron Short will review the S.O.A.P. documentation format and discuss what additional information you need document. In…Nov 7th, 2013
HIPAA Has New Requirements (New as of 2013-11-07)
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
HIPAA Has New Requirements ...Links and resources by topic.
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