This week Medicare Insider is featuring an excerpt from Patient Status Training Toolkit for Utilization Review by Kimberly Anderwood Hoy Baker, JD, regulatory specialist for HCPro.
This week’s updates include reporting principal and interest amounts when refunding previously recouped money on the Remittance Advice; Changes to the laboratory NCD edit software for July 2016; and more!
Q: Rural health clinics have to start to bill all services on individual lines with HCPCS codes and charges. Is there a way to report these services on a separate line without the appearance of inflating our charges?
Email encryption, file sharing, and mailbox security
by Chris Apgar, CISSP
Q: We are in the process of building a new office. Would it be HIPAA compliant to have an outside locked mailbox for our general postal mail and therapist paperwork that is dropped off at night? If not, would a mail slot on our front door work better?
A: An outside locked mailbox will suffice to secure incoming mail and therapist paperwork. Ensure that the mailbox is secure and not easily broken into. If the mailbox is secured with a key, it's a good idea to implement a solid key management program so it's known who has a key. Keys should be recovered when an employee resigns or is terminated. If an employee leaves without returning his or her key, it's wise to re-key the lock on the mailbox.
Editor's note
Apgar is president of Apgar & Associates, LLC, in Portland, Oregon. He is also a BOH editorial advisory board member. This information does not constitute legal advice. Consult legal counsel for answers to specific privacy and security questions. Email your HIPAA questions to Associate Editor Nicole Votta at nvotta@hcpro.com.
Research shows that ethnic and racial minorities may wind up back in the hospital after discharge more often than their white counterparts for certain conditions, such as pneumonia and heart failure. This increased rate of readmissions is due to many factors, including:
A higher incidence of some chronic diseases
Social, economic, cultural, and linguistic barriers to care
CMS is hoping to change that with a new publication, "Guide to Preventing Readmissions Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Beneficiaries." Its authors said that the guide aims to accomplish three main goals:
Providing an overview of the issues that can lead to higher readmission rates among this group
Outlining actions hospital leaders can take to reduce these avoidable readmissions
Providing case studies and examples of initiatives that have worked to reduce readmissions among racial and ethnically diverse Medicare beneficiaries
