“The single biggest and most common compliance weakness is the lack of a timely and thorough risk analysis.”

As a result of the intricate details and requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), it comes as no surprise that HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules can cause challenges and confusion for even the most sophisticated providers. With this in mind, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has recently provided tools meant to educate both consumers and providers on HIPAA.

On March 25, 2013, Governor Steve Beshear signed House Bill 104, a bill that will change how Physician Assistants (“PAs”) practice in the Commonwealth. Under former law, a PA had to be directly supervised in by a doctor in the first eighteen months of their medical practice. Kentucky had the longest supervision requirement of any state in the U.S.

Urinalysis, also referred to as urine drug screening, is an important procedure that health providers use for several reasons: to monitor patients’ medication compliance, detect drug abuse, or identify the presence of disease. There are numerous implications that accompany a urinalysis examination though, and health providers are sometimes left wondering if they should hand over the cup to patients.

On October 16, 2012, the Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2012[1] was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Sam Graves. The purpose of this legislation is to reform the Medicare auditing program. This legislation aims to improve the accuracy and transparency of Medicare audits of hospitals as well as increase the accountability of Recovery Audit Contractors (“RAC”).[2]

Before a covered entity can use cloud storage for ePHI, the covered entity must enter into a business associate agreement (BAA) with the cloud vendor.[i]  It seems that there is some uncertainty surrounding this requirement, with some cloud vendors taking the position that a BAA is unnecessary for passive storage of ePHI or that they qualify for an exception under HITECH Act as a personal health records vendor.

Virtual or “cloud” data storage is an increasingly popular method for storing data electronically in a safe and yet conveniently accessible manner that may also represent a cost savings over traditional onsite data storage options.  Health care providers, including hospitals, pharmacies and physicians, have been slow to avail themselves of the benefits of “cloud computing” due in part to concerns about whether the cloud offers the rigorous privacy and security safeguards required for storing electronic protected health information (ePHI) under Federal and State privacy laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) and implementing regulations.

Compliance and preparedness are two very real, everyday concerns for long-term care facilities. Not only are these important aspects of daily operations for the safety of the employees and patients, they are paramount because any day a visitor from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG”) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) could show up for an inspection.  Is your facility prepared?

The Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) has always encouraged Medicare and Medicaid providers to implement a compliance program. For 14 years, as a matter of fact, OIG has provided compliance guidance in 11 healthcare sectors (including: hospitals, nursing facilities, home healthcare, hospice and third-party billers). With the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), compliance plans and programs are now mandatory for any provider enrolled in a Federal health care program, including Medicare.

The Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act supports The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) different programs for the development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).  In Kentucky, we are beginning to see these organizations emerge in different models.