Who would have thought that buying gas with a credit card or wearing a pacemaker could leave a person's information exposed? Yet highly sophisticated credit card skimming devices at gas stations are stealing from consumers, and healthcare organizations are concerned about the potential for malicious tampering or the theft of PHI from wireless medical devices such as pacemakers. Hidden vulnerabilities lie in everyday activities like these, and some of those vulnerabilities can expose PHI and put healthcare organizations at risk.
E/M coding and reimbursement for hospital outpatients could change dramatically if CMS finalizes its proposal to replace current E/M CPT® codes with three G-codes.
Editor's note: The following is adapted from the HCPro book The HIPAA Omnibus Rule: A Compliance Guide for Covered Entities and Business Associates, by Kate Borten, CISSP, CISM, president of The Marblehead Group in Marblehead, Mass. To learn more about the book, go to www.hcmarketplace.com.
As an HIM director, you are responsible for the integrity of your patients' records-even when your hospital shuts down certain wings of the facility or closes its doors entirely.
