This week’s Medicare updates include the release of the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System final rule, an announcement of the next round of Medicare Recovery Audit Contractors, the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment Changes for 2017 final rule, CY 2017 Home Health Prospective Payment System, a Hospital Appeals Settlement Update, and more!
Medicare beneficiaries sometimes have information about discharge planning from CMS. What questions might they ask as a result of having this information?
Hospitals got a last-minute reprieve from the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) notification requirement, which was set to go into effect August 6. Citing the need for additional time to revise the standardized notification form that hospitals will need to use to notify patients about the financial implications of being assigned to observation services, CMS moved back the start date for the requirement in the 2017 IPPS final rule to 'no later than 90 days,' after the final version of the form is approved (www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/...).
Much of today's healthcare industry is reliant on third-party vendors. If you haven't asked your vendors whether they are compliant with HIPAA and have implemented sound information privacy and security programs, you are likely facing unknown?and possibly significant?risks. Covered entities (CE) and business associates (BA) are required by HIPAA to exercise due diligence when it comes to their BAs and BA subcontractors. Assessing the risk of those vendors is necessary, especially if those vendors support critical functions in support of CE operations.
Q: I recently received a customer satisfaction survey from a medical supply company. The survey was printed on a postcard, not enclosed in an envelope. The survey is generic and doesn't include information about what services or supplies were received, but it does show my name and address and the name of the company. Anyone looking at it could know, or assume, that I received medical supplies. I don't feel this is appropriate, but I'm not sure if this is a HIPAA concern.
