Health IT, HIPAA, and the CMS Incentive Programs Blog
For physicians, hospitals, government agencies, and business associates
URGENT – International Ransomware Attack in Progress – Action Needed
U.S. Homeland Security and Health and Human Services have issued an urgent alert to healthcare, government and other organizations regarding an unprecedented, rapidly ransomware attack. It has infected over 10,000 organizations and 200,000 individuals worldwide.
100 Days of HIPAA Enforcement under President Trump
It hasn't been widely publicized, but President Trump's administration brought five HIPAA enforcement actions, totaling $11,631,000, during his first 100 days in office. The appointment of Roger Severino as the Director, Office of Civil Rights (OCR), on March 22,...
Security Risk Analysis deadline under ACI is 12/31/2017
The Security Risk Analysis (SRA) remains a requirement for the new Advancing Care Information (ACI) category of MIPS. A change enacted this year requires that the SRA be complete by 12/31/2017 under ACI, the Medicaid Meaningful Use program for physicians, and Hospital Meaningful Use programs. Practices who need outside help are advised to schedule their early to ensure that it is completed on time, and to avoid
Security Risk Analysis: Doctors believe EHR outages harm patients
According to a recent survey, physicians believe that EHR downtime harms patients. This is supported by the the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC), which states that medication errors and other impacts can occur. An effective HIPAA Security Risk Analysis (SRA) will
Health Care Direction under President Trump
While most of the political attention has focused on the GOP and Trump administration’s efforts to repeal Obamacare, aging Baby Boomers continue to challenge the finances of Medicare and the entire U.S. Federal budget. After the recent passage of an Obamacare repeal bill in the House, it is likely that political attention will remain on Obamacare repeal efforts, leaving recently enacted programs affecting Medicare, MACRA and MIPS, intact. It is possible that practices who maximize their performance under MIPS could earn a big payday, as high as
Ransomware – First Person Account
An Eagle Consulting Partners client, a 10 physician practice, shared their ransomware story. In the words of the system administrator: It was about 6PM on a Wednesday evening and I needed to do some maintenance on the EMR server. I was at home. Typically I wait...
HHS issues Guidance regarding HIPAA and Cloud Computing
Healthcare organizations are increasingly using cloud computing vendors for electronic records, billing and revenue cycle management, file sharing, backup, and a wide variety of other functions — and HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has released important new guidance for these companies.
Quality Payment Programs, the final rule
The Quality Payment Program final rule has been released. What payment adjustments will physicians see in the upcoming years? How quickly will the new payment methodologies be implemented?
