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The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issue Notices of Proposed Rulemaking that are open for comment until May 7, 2012.
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A Texas law that caps pain and suffering awards in healthcare lawsuits was ruled constitutional by a federal judge recently. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap issued a brief one-page ruling stating "all claims by plaintiffs in this matter are denied," which left the state's 2003 cap on non-economic damages standing.
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Although there is no way to know exactly what documents you will be asked to provide in the initial HIPAA compliance audit notice from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) there are some items you can expect to see on the list, according to experts interviewed by HIPAA Regulatory Alert:
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Following the arrest of pediatrician Earl Bradley, MD, for child sexual abuse, and allegations that Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, DE, did not adequately respond to concerns about Bradley, the hospital established a Special Investigative Commission to look at how Beebe might strengthen its internal procedures and practices.
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The risk of a medication error rises sharply when a hospital's pharmacy is closed, according to a report by Michael J. Gaunt, PharmD, senior patient safety analyst with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority in Harrisburg. His recent study found that the incorrect drug was retrieved from an automated dispensing cabinet or night cabinet in 82.3% of wrong-drug events.
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A study by Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs investigators provides the first in-depth look at how healthcare providers react to medication alerts generated by electronic medical record systems. They found that clinicians often ignore alarms because they are uncertain what they mean.
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The initial notice of audit from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) asks for a significant amount of documentation and information to be submitted within 10 days of the notice date, but that will not be the end of information for which you'll be asked, says Mac McMillan, chief executive officer of CynergisTek, an information technology security consulting company, who advised a Texas hospital included in the initial audits.
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Controversy over photo identification has been in the news a lot in recent months, specifically in regard to laws passed by some states that require photo identification when voting, according to the National Association of Healthcare Access Management.
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Collections surged by 25% the first year after a bonus program was implemented in 2010 at The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
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Before a pre-registration department was created at the organization, insurance requirements for patients to identify a primary care provider used to result in delays in scheduled procedures fairly often, until a pre-registration department was created, says Bettye Sabree, MHA, director of pre-registration and centralized referrals at Cambridge Health Alliance in Medford, MA.
