A business associate (BA) who cuts off a covered entity’s (CE) access to its own protected health information (PHI) may violate HIPAA, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said.The potential for a HIPAA violation hinges on the impermissible use of PHI.
The Cooperating Parties made revisions for 2017 to explain how bilateral conditions should be reported when the two sides are treated during separate encounters, as well as what codes would be appropriate once one side has been treated.
A Rhode Island health system agreed to a settlement and corrective action plan after a breach investigation uncovered out-of-date business associate agreements with a member hospital.
This week’s Medicare updates include a transmittal recurring update notification describing changes to and billing instructions for various payment policies implemented in the October 2016 OPPS update; news about CMS once again allowing some providers to settle inpatient status claims in appeals; an OIG report regarding the improper payment of millions of dollars for unlawfully present beneficiaries; and more!
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the latest agency to slam HHS’ oversight of HIPAA in a report released September 26. The report was scathing in its criticism of HHS’ efforts to educate covered entities and business associate, develop and uphold technical security guidelines, and enforce compliance.
I recently heard of a local long-term care hospital (LTCH, also known as LTACH) that was unwilling to accept military veterans who were cared for at her facility or any Veterans Affairs hospitals even though they would otherwise qualify for LTCH care. The reason the LTCH would not accept these patients was because they did not have a preceding visit in a “regular” hospital. What's the solution?
