U.S. Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Efforts

Directly or indirectly, we all have heard of fraud in the system that is designed to cater to the health of Americans.  Few of us are aware of the magnitudes of the fraud and the greed of the perpetrators.  It turns out that the schemes often involve millions of dollars of fraudulent charges to health [...]

Carrot & Stick: Incentives For The Adoption of Health IT – Part 2

In Part 1 of this article, we examined government incentives to boost the nationwide adoption of health   information technology (health IT).  Specifically, we discussed the following: Incentives through funding Incentives through education and training Incentives through sharing the impacts of health IT (Beacon Community program) Incentives through innovative problem-solving research program SHARP program). In this [...]

Carrot & Stick: Incentives For The Adoption of Health IT – Part 1

In previous articles, we examined aspects of the HITECH Act, a component of the multi-billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.  In this installment of the series, we highlight government incentives to boost the nationwide adoption of health information technology (health IT). A.  Incentives Through Funding  HITECH Act authorizes the DHHS Secretary to invest [...]

Health Information Security: HITECH Act and HIPAA

Introduction  In a previous article, we highlighted Title XIII of the Recovery Act, which contains the provisions and appropriations for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (a.k.a. the HITECH Act).  Understandably, these provisions are not isolated from other healthcare regulations.  In particular, the health IT standards and implementation specifications adopted under [...]

HIPAA Security Rule – Obligations Of Covered Entities

Introduction  In an earlier article, we provided highlights of the Privacy Rule of the Health insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.  Closely related to the privacy provisions are those regulations that relate to information security.  Using a Q&A format, this article highlights key features of the HIPAA Security Rule, including a reliable source [...]

Protect Yourself: Know Your Rights Under PSQIA

One of my primary goals in starting this Blog is to facilitate access to regulatory provisions that affect our everyday lives.  Ready access to accurate information is vital, given the importance of issues relating to our health, privacy, and safety.  This article on knowing your rights under the PSQIA, builds on an earlier one that [...]

HIPAA Privacy Rule: Information You Need To Know

Each of us feels strongly about the safety our personal information.  Top on the list of safety concerns is the privacy of our health information.  Privacy concerns about health information are clearly understandable because of the sensitive nature of medical records.  It is reassuring that there are legal provisions in place to alley some of [...]