Healthcare IT Update

Avoid Identity Theft and A/R Pileups: Create Your List of Red Flags Today

As part of your facility’s or practice’s compliance with the FTC’s Red Flag Rules, which go into effect in June 2010, you need to develop a list of “red flags” that represent risk factors for identity theft in health care. To do this, use a risk assessment process, review prior experiences, and investigate the Federal Register, said Duane Abbey, whose recent audio conference, “Achieve Red Flag Compliance,” gave medical professionals a toehold on this new federal compliance requirement. First, Abbey recommended, assess these typical risk factors for identity theft of health care, including: the types of accounts your patients have established with you; how insurance coverage can verify the patient’s identity; and the steps you take when you open an account for a patient. Review any past experiences, over the last 5 to 10 years, your facility or practice might have had…

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Red Flags Rule Applies to Health Care Providers (for Now!)

While medical groups are gearing up to challenge the application of the FTC’s Red Flags Rule to health care providers, the viability of such a challenge is not assured. So aside from being required to do so by the Federal Trade Commission, your practice or facility should implement a Red Flag compliance program that helps to detect and prevent medical identity theft because it’s a best practice. The good news is, it’s not that hard, according to Duane Abbey, who recently gave an audio conference, “Achieve Red Flag Compliance.” “I don’t think we’re going to see any exemptions,” Abbey predicted. The original Red Flags regulations in the Federal Register back in 2007 mentioned health care creditors specifically, he pointed out. Enforcement of the Red Flags regs has been delayed until June 1, 2010. “The incremental procedures through which you…

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Trends: Medical Identity Theft Increases

Resource: Look for a new report from the World Privacy Forum early in 2010. Even as the feds repeatedly postpone the compliance deadline for the Red Flags Rule, medical identity theft is on the rise, reports The Wall Street Journal. Experts say the recession is one factor contributing to the climb, as patients use the insurance cards of relatives or friends to obtain care they can’t afford. A bigger problem is the influx of fraudsters who see PHI as easy pickings. These crooks typically pay health care workers for insurance information and then resell it. Up Next: PHI theft hot spots …

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Duped! FTC Postpones Red Flag Rules Rule. Again.

While some providers should play wait and see, the law has a financial upside for larger entities. Remember that movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray relives the same day over and over again? That’s where we are with the Red Flags Rule. It was supposed to take effect Nov. 1, but alas … On October 30, the Federal Trade Commission announced it’s postponing the compliance deadline for the rule until June 1, 2010. There’s a court case going on about who must comply. “Basically, the FTC is extending the deadline because Congress has asked it to do so,” explains attorney Robert Markette in Home Care Law Blog. What to do if you don’t currently have a Red Flags Rule Compliance Program: Markette recommends that would wait a bit to get your…

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Medical Records Compliance: Train Your Staff to Handle Red Flags Rule

Health care attorney shares 5 simple questions that test your staffers’ Red Flags Rules savvy. Around midnight this Saturday, things get interesting. The ghosts and goblins will be out, and the Red Flags Rule will finally come lurching in around midnight, like a slow-moving, regulatory Frankenstein. But like the misunderstood movie monster, the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule doesn’t have to be scary — as long as you and your staff understand it, it should be able to play nice. And while “complying with this rule is not going to be burdensome,” you do need to make sure your health care staff are on the lookout for foul play, stresses Robert Markette with Gilliland & Markette in Indianapolis. Some of Markette’s advice is tailored to home health staffers, but most of it’s relevant to other health…

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New Red Flag Rules Deadline: November 1, 2009

Good news. At least until November. The Federal Trade Commission has postponed the compliance deadline for the Red Flags Rule from Aug. 1 to Nov. 1, 2009, according to a July 29 release from the FTC. The rule requires that creditors and financial institutions implement programs to identify, detect, and respond to the warning signs, or “red flags,” that could indicate identity theft. Health care providers fall under the ‘creditors’ heading. As HIT professionals well know, identity thieves often target a person’s medical information (such as a Medicare or Medicaid number), with serious consequences for both the legitimate bene and the health care organization involved. One reason for the delay? The FTC wants to give small businesses more guidance on how to comply with the rule. To determine whether your health care organization falls within the FTC’s ‘low risk’ category, 

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