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Are you ready for the
February 2010 "HITECH ACT"
Compliance Deadline? |
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted in February 2009 as part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The HITECH Act reserves $22 billion for advancement of the use of health information technology and is heavily laden with financial incentives to influence the adoption of electronic health records by physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers who participate in Medicare and Medicaid.
Two potentially more significant—yet less publicized—aspects of the Act are:
1) expansion of the HIPAA privacy and security rules to business associates (BAs) of covered entities, and 2) the first
federally-mandated notification requirements in cases of breaches of protected health information. The compliance date for both changes is
February 18, 2010.
To read the entire article - Click here |
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Are You Ready for Recovery Audit Contractors?
With all the recent news about Red Flag Rules and Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) conducting audits, are you concerned about whether your practice is ready? RACs will be used in an effort aimed to reduce improper payments within Medicare programs and identify process improvements to reduce or eliminate improper payments in the future. During the demonstration phase (2005-2008), an estimated $1.03 billion in improper payments were identified.
In an effort to protect against the risks from these audits, Professional Risk Associates is offering MEDEFENSE™ Plus. This product is designed specifically to provide coverage for defense costs and civil fines and penalties that arise from billing errors proceedings. MEDEFENSE™ Plus also extends coverage for HIPAA compliance, “Red Flag” Rules, commercial payer audits, STARK, and EMTALA.
For more information please contact Joan Kassel at Professional Risk Associates at
1-800-318-9930.
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