-
JCAHO and CMS recently announced the signing of an agreement to work together in completely aligning current and future common Hospital Quality Measures in their condition-specific performance measure sets.
-
A SeaTac, WA, man pleaded guilty in federal court to wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information for economic gain. The guilty plea entered by Richard Gibson, 42, was the first criminal conviction under the HIPAA privacy rule, according to the U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Washington.
-
Entities covered under the HIPAA security rule are not required to certify compliance with provisions of the rule, according to guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
-
Medicare continues to work closely with contractors, providers, billing agents, clearinghouses, and software vendors to achieve HIPAA goals and will be making greater use of the Internet and working on implementation of electronic attachments to electronic medical records.
-
Thinking creatively, but not expensively, is the key to meeting HIPAA requirements with a limited budget.
-
To make sure your facility has an appropriate disaster plan in place, join Thomson American Health Consultants on Tuesday, Nov. 16, from
2:30-3:30 p.m. ET for If Disaster Strikes, Is Your Healthcare Facility Prepared?, a timely audio conference designed to address the essential needs and requirements of hospital disaster plans.
-
When EMTALA was finalized last year, risk managers worried that changes in the rule might mean they would find it impossible to schedule enough specialists on call to meet EMTALA needs. That nightmare is coming true.
-
Youve probably got a defense attorney or two giving you advice on how to avoid liability in slip-and-fall cases, but wouldnt it be great to hear from the other side? Imagine if a plaintiffs attorney explained, Heres how to win when my client sues you. Healthcare Risk Management found a plaintiffs lawyer willing to give you that view from the other side, with some tips about how you can best avoid writing his client a big check.
-
Its probably not uncommon for patients to arrive at your facility with their own health care equipment, such as a home dialysis unit or insulin pump, not to mention personal items such as curling irons, computers, and hair dryers. Do you have a policy in place to make sure those items are safe? If you dont, you might be risking significant liability if those items end up injuring anyone.
-
Its 3 a.m., and you get a call from the emergency department. The staff is in a heated dispute with a local police officer whos demanding information about a patient who assaulted another while waiting to be transferred to inpatient care. Your staff is worried about violating patient privacy. The officer is complaining loudly that the hospital is obstructing a criminal investigation. Whats a risk manager to do?