News & Analysis

September 1, 2016
Briefings on HIPAA

Q: We recently received a request for a patient's records. The patient transferred to another provider several years ago and we subsequently transferred all the patient's records to the new provider. Should I direct the request to the provider the patient transferred to? I'm unsure that we should be responsible for retrieving and releasing information for this patient since we transferred the patient's entire record to the new provider.

A: If you sent a copy of the patient's records to the new provider and still have the original records, it would be appropriate for you to respond to the request. If you transferred all records to the new provider and no longer have the patient's information, refer the request to the new provider.

 

Editor's note: Mary Brandt, MBA, RHIA, CHE, CHPS, is a healthcare consultant specializing in healthcare regulatory compliance and operations improvement. She is also an advisory board member for BOH. This information does not constitute legal advice. Consult legal counsel for answers to specific privacy and security questions. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent HCPro or ACDIS. Email your HIPAA questions to Associate Editor Nicole Votta at nvotta@hcpro.com.

September 1, 2016
Case Management Monthly

Assigning the correct patient status is a constant challenge for hospitals and the case managers who are charged with ensuring these decisions are accurate. 

August 31, 2016
Medicare Web

Q: Is there any information yet on any new HCPCS codes for pharmacies that CMS may be considering for the October OPPS update?

August 26, 2016
Medicare Web

Q: I have a question about navigating the skilled nursing facility (SNF) benefit for Medicare. My understanding is that you can only use a Hospital-Issued Notices of Noncoverage (HINN) for inpatient, so you could use if less than a three-day stay. We have been giving Advance Beneficiary Notices (ABN) for our traditional Medicare patients that are observation when families are not timely on getting a SNF secured to those patients that require it. Is this correct?

August 24, 2016
Medicare Web

Q: We provide tobacco cessation services and have been reporting these with time-based HCPCS codes. There are also CPT® codes for these services. Which is the appropriate set of codes to use for Medicare?

August 23, 2016
Medicare Web

Now that CMS has released a new version of the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice how should my organization proceed?

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