Editor's note: In honor of the holidays, we asked our "MRB Talk" members to send us their HIM holiday wishes. From funny to serious, we hope that each one of your wishes is answered for you in the coming year. And to all of our readers, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. Now, read on to find out what your colleagues are wishing for this holiday season, and, as always, if you aren't a member of the listserv but would like to be, feel free to e-mail me at akraynak@hcpro.com.
Jefferson Regional Medical Center (JRMC), a 471-bed nonprofit hospital located in Pine Bluff, AR, is the fourth largest medical center in the state and serves 11 counties in south Arkansas. When I started working there in early November 2010, I quickly realized we had a number of opportunities to improve our HIM operations and efficiencies.
Breaches are expensive and can be directly related to sending PHI unencrypted over the Internet. There are a number of vendors who offer secure messaging tools but not all are equal. Protected Trust is more than just a secure messaging solution. Protected Trust's application also includes tools to assist with broader security control implementation and compliance with HIPAA and HITECH.
Briefings on HIPAA has obtained a copy of the $9.2 million contract with KPMG, LLP, the company OCR hired to conduct HIPAA compliance audits. The contract reveals some details about what healthcare organizations can expect when the audits begin.
Patients may have easier access to laboratory results under an HHS proposed rule, "CLIA Program and HIPAA Privacy Rule: Patients' Access to Test Reports," released in September.
