A mobile workforce in the healthcare industry presents a unique set of HIPAA privacy and security challenges. As the number of large HIPAA breaches increases and OCR ramps up audits, organizations cannot afford to risk their bottom line and reputation by failing to protect patient privacy and security.
Q: I am currently working on a social media usage policy for the organization where I work. I often notisce that some of my friends in the healthcare industry will post about patients on social media website.
1. Phase 2 of OCR's HIPAA audits will be desk audits, which means OCR will not conduct on-site audits of covered entities (CE) and business associates (BA) unless resources are available.
Physicians have long treated patients knowing that some of the problems keeping them sick were problems that medicine couldn't fix--lack of food, electricity, or money to pay for medicine. These are the types of problems that often send patients back to the hospital after they are discharged home. Today, some physicians can write a prescription to solve these problems the same way they order medicine.
Many hospitals have been adding group rounds as a means of improving communication and care for patients. These rounds give case managers (CM) an opportunity to better understand the patient's condition, learn about any potential factors that might extend LOS, and prepare for any potential barriers that might lead to readmission after discharge.
There's bad news for case managers that were hoping that the 2-midnight rule would go away. It's not?at least not in fiscal year (FY) 2015. In the 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule published August 22, CMS said while it may be willing to look into adjusting the payment methodology for the 2-midnight rule, the rule itself will stand.
