Also known as the "mega rules," the omnibus final rules are clarifications and finalizations of the HIPAA rules of 2003, the HITECH rules of 2008, and the incorporation of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) rules into the Privacy and Security rules. These are not sweeping changes, as many describe, but clarifications. In most cases, what are now final rules are best practices that organizations should already be following.
CMS released a number of proposed changes to the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) July 8. The 2014 OPPS proposed rule (available at http://tinyurl.com/oyu33jx) is shorter than normal at 718 pages, but the proposed changes are significant and probably the most sweeping since the inception of OPPS, says Jugna Shah, MPH, president and founder of Nimitt Consulting in Washington, D.C.
If there's one conclusion you can reach looking back at data breaches over the last decade, it's that organizations face more threats than ever, according to HIPAA professionals.
