In today’s virtual environment, with its focus on flexible schedules, organizing the coding function requires consideration of time zones, team member skills, volume of work, and claim-processing schedules.
OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification rules. Failing to properly manage and oversee remote access to and the protection of health information can be costly, as the following three cases demonstrate.
In addition to physical and technical safeguards, the HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to implement administrative protections, including workforce training and management.
Four years after they were proposed, CMS has finalized a series of discharge planning changes that went into effect on October 29. The final rule, called Revisions to Discharge Planning Requirements [CMS-3317-F], imposes a number of new requirements—ranging from how to notify patients about their choice in postacute providers to prioritizing patient preferences when developing discharge plans and treatment goals.
The U.S. healthcare system wastes some $760 billion to $935 billion dollars each year, says a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and between $27.2 billion and $78.2 billion of that total is the result of failures in care coordination.
