Healthcare IT Update

OCR May Expand Accounting of Disclosures under HIPAA

HITECH Act requires use of EHRs as tools to inform about disclosures under Privacy Rule. Health care organizations and providers thought they dodged a bullet long ago when they convinced HHS to exclude disclosures of patient data used in the process of treatment and payments from the HIPAA privacy rules. But now, thanks to the HITECH Act, HHS is back, wondering what would be so terrible about requiring an accounting of such disclosures now. Through a request for information issued in early May titled HIPAA Privacy Rule Accounting of Disclosures Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (75 Fed Reg 23214 May 3, 2010), the HHS Office for Civil Rights says it expects to learn more about the interests of individuals, and the administrative burden on covered entities as well as business associates, concerning accounting for such disclosures. Under current standards of the…

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Can EHR Remedy Our Nursing Staff Shortage?

Where did all the nurses go? Chances are they’re buried in redundant paperwork. Time and time again, we hear about a nursing shortage that worsens as our population ages and needs more health care. But a new study suggests that electronic medical record solutions and other HIT solutions could help existing nurses make more of the time they’ve got. Nurses spend a quarter of their working hours away from a patient’s bedside, and more on attending to indirect patient care such as paperworks, logistics and operations, according to a new study from Atlanta-based Jackson Healthcare. Jackson Healthcare, StatCom, and Travel Nurse Solutions surveyed 2,439 nurses, nursing managers and chief nursing officers (CNO) across the US, focusing on the 1,663 who work in hospital settings.

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HHS OCR Is New HIPAA Security Regulator

You’ve got a new sheriff in town for HIPAA enforcement. The Department of Health and Human Services is handing over the administration and enforcement of the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. CMS formerly oversaw enforcement of the rule. The Security Rule specifies a series of administrative, technical, and physical security procedures for covered entities to use to assure the confidentiality of electronic-protected health information. OCR has enforced HIPAA’s Privacy Rule since 2003. CMS hopes the Security’s Rule’s move to OCR will trim some administrative inefficiency and improve regulation, given that privacy and security are so closely connected. “The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), mandated improved enforcement of the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule,” points out

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