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U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) says a loophole in medical privacy law is allowing pharmacies to "auction off" customer records, including prescriptions, information about medical conditions, Social Security numbers, and insurance records "to the highest bidder."
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Mistakes involving patient classification and preauthorization of procedures are among a lengthy list of common errors made in the same-day surgery arena.
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"Lessons Learned From the Gulf Coast Hurricanes," recently published by the American Health Lawyers Association, looks at legal issues that arose in the context of the 2005 hurricanes.
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The U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, in a recent decision, has refused to dismiss a case brought by the survivors of Alfonso Domenech, who was discharged from a hospital in spite of complaints of chest pain and abnormal test results.
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Health care organizations that are operating a call center or centralized scheduling department without the appropriate technology as a foundation might as well put blindfolds on their managers, suggests Judith Brown, president of Brown Healthcare Consulting in Chicago.
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Customer service training is a crucial -- but sometimes forgotten -- piece of the training needed to prepare call center employees for the demands of the job, says Judith Brown, president of Chicago-based Brown Healthcare Consulting.
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The biggest challenge regarding the implementation of registration kiosks at the Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) in Macon was "just trying to arrive at the place where our organization was ready to present self-service."
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Years ago, in an effort to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy -- and after a lengthy and passionate campaign by providers -- what is now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) eliminated the signature requirement, deciding that giving patients the information upon admission was sufficient.
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Aging with Dignity, the United Health Foundation, the American Hospital Association, and other national and local organizations will distribute 500,000 advance directives in the coming year in a campaign to help patients and families make important advance decisions about end-of-life care.
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At Gwinnett Hospital System in Lawrenceville, GA, the HIPAA compliance program has been broadened to include "any and all sensitive information."
