Health Law

Physicians using technology

Posted on March 18, 2009
Physician Adoption of Technology: According to this article, it's growing, but is hindered by frustration doctors feel in dealing with the technology. It's hard to change over to an EMR, resulting in wasted time; EMR systems too often aren't interoperable; the software designers don't understand what doctors want and need...

Data Breaches at Binghamton

Posted on March 18, 2009
Data Breach at SUNY-Binghamton: (Actually, it now appears to call itself Binghamton University, but still looks like a member of the State University of New York system) Here's a story about some data breaches at Binghamton, which may result in the recently-hired CISO getting fired...

Cloud computing and security

Posted on March 18, 2009
Into the Cloud: Very interesting article on "cloud computing" and the security and privacy issues raised thereby. This is a very live issue, and draws several articles a day on the InfoWeek website.

ARRA

Posted on March 17, 2009
Epilogue on the Stimulus Bill: So what does it all mean? I don't think we can say for sure, but covered entities and business associates should start looking over their policies and procedures, and their forms, and start making some changes. These provisions have varying start times, and most are subject to further rulemaking by the Secretary of Health and Human Services...

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ARRA stuff

Posted on March 17, 2009
Stimulus Bill Potpourri for $500, Alex: There's also a passel of additional HIPAA junk in trunk of this bill:Other Specific Disclosure Rules. There are several additional rules included in the HIPAA provisions of ARRA intended to address specific situations...

ARRA provisions

Posted on March 17, 2009
More from the Stimulus Bill: There are also changes in HIPAA enforcement. Depending on how you look at it, this could be good; or bad.Improved Enforcement. There was some confusion whether an employee of a covered entity could be subject to HIPAA criminal penalties...

ARRA provisions

Posted on March 17, 2009
More Stimulus Bill Issues: Are you an EMR user? The stimulus bill will give you some cash if you become one (and will take away cash if you don't). Like the Persians in "300," you're going to get pushed off that cliff at some point. And when you are, you'll have some special HIPAA rules to abide by:Special Rules for EHR Users...

ARRA

Posted on March 17, 2009
More Stimulus Bill provisions: Data Breach reporting.Data Breach Notification Requirements. Covered entities and business associates who suffer a ?breach? of unsecured PHI must notify all affected individuals. There are several complicating factors here: the definition of ?breach? is relatively specific, and excludes some unintentional or inadvertent disclosures; if the PHI was ?secured? (again

ARRA provisions

Posted on March 17, 2009
New Provisions under the Stimulus Bill: what about business associates? Here's my take: Business Associates Now Covered, Too. Under the original structure of HIPAA, only healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses were ?covered entities;? the vendors and other parties with which they dealt, and which received ?protected health information? or PHI from them, were

ARRA provisions

Posted on March 17, 2009
The Stimulus Bill's HIPAA provisions. OK, you've heard about this Stimulus Bill. The one nobody read. Well, I finally read it (or at least the parts dealing with HIPAA), and we rolled those comments into other health industry comments for what we at JW like to call an eBrief (longer than an eAlert, shorter than a HealthBrief article), which should be on the JW website tomorrow (included in our

Sam's Club EMR

Posted on March 12, 2009
Would you buy an EMR system from Sam's Club? Actually, with the partners involved (Dell and eClinicalWorks), it sounds like a pretty good deal. Part of the chicken-and-egg issue of EMR is not buying the tech stuff until everyone uses it, but nobody uses it until everyone buys it...

"Free" is a problem

Posted on March 12, 2009
"Free" May Be A Problem: according to this article, there's the additional concern that "free" software EMR solutions, if they come about, won't be the cure either, in no small part because of the "moral hazard" argument. Physicians may not be as likely to embrace a new EMR project, support it, or work with it simply because it's free; the perceived value won't be there...

Why WalMart matters

Posted on March 12, 2009
Why WalMart (or more accurately, Sam's Club) Matters: I noted immediately below the story on Sam's Club (partnering with Dell and eClinicalWorks) to provide low-cost EMRs to small physician practices. It's important to note that physicians don't get as much Stimulus money as hospitals do for EMR, it's paid out over time, and the punishment for not going electronic (in the future) will be

Milestone

Posted on March 09, 2009
Milestone: Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of this blog's first post. You'd think there would be more answers than questions by now. . . .

Doctors on EMRs

Posted on March 05, 2009

Social Security Number sourcebook

Posted on March 05, 2009

Penna stat of limitations case

Posted on March 02, 2009

MPMSoft

Posted on March 02, 2009

Posted on February 28, 2009

Cost of data breaches creeps up

Posted on February 28, 2009

Preexisting conditions debate

Posted on February 26, 2009
The Pre-Existing Conditions Debate Heats Up: As you know if you've read this blog before, HIPAA originated because of the insurance concept of the pre-existing condition. Your insurance isn't "portable" (the "P" in HIPAA) if you can be denied because of a pre-existing condition...

State Data Breach Notification Laws

Posted on February 26, 2009
State Data Breach Notification Laws: I've been trying to get my hands around the new PHI data breach notification requirements of the ARRA (the Stimulus Bill), and been talking to a lot of folks about it. One constant question is how this data breach notification statute will interact with the various state statutes...

No takers for free govt insurance

Posted on February 25, 2009
Slightly Off topic: what happens if you pass a bill to put 4 million uninsured children on a governmental child insurance program, but they don't sign up? One thing never, never, never mentioned in the uninsured/underinsured debate is how many are that way by choice...

Stimulus Bill HIPAA provisions

Posted on February 18, 2009
I'm in denial. Yes, I'm still dumbfounded by the utter stupidity of the so-called Stimulus Bill, on so many levels, that I haven't focused on the HIPAA provisions buried therein. I promise I will post on them. But for now, know that Business Associates will be treated like Covered Entities for breach and enforcement purposes...

CVS settlement

Posted on February 18, 2009
This just in, via Modern Healthcare:CVS to pay $2 million over alleged HIPAA violationsCapping a first-of-its kind joint investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the HHS Civil Rights Office, drugstore and pharmacy benefits management giant CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $2...

OT: Kosenske case

Posted on February 17, 2009
Off-Topic: Stark and the Unabomber: I wrote an eAlert a few weeks ago about a case out of Pennsylvania called US ex rel. Kosenske v. Carlisle, in which a hospital failed to update a contract with it anesthesia group and, therefore, was determined to have violated Stark (resulting in a lot of false claims)...

25 tools for self-googling

Posted on February 17, 2009
What's being said about you online? I got an email from Kelly Sonora noting this article with some tools to help you find out what's being said about you online. Not HIPAA-specific, but something worth looking into.

Stiumulus bill and balancing privacy with usefulness

Posted on February 11, 2009
On the Stimulus Bill: As we've discussed here before, more discussion of attempts to balance patient privacy with the usefulness of the use and disclosure of otherwise protected health information.

competing stimulus bills

Posted on February 10, 2009
Privacy issues in the Stimulus Bills: the House and Senate versions each contain privacy provisions, but apparently the House bill has been influenced by the privacy watchdog groups, while the Senate bill has been influenced by industry groups. I'm sure it'll suck one way or the other.

New Data Breach: This time, Kaiser

Posted on February 10, 2009
New Data Breach: This time, Kaiser employees are the victim of a true (alleged) identity thief. Not PHI, apparently. though.

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