February 15, 2013. Today, we present several new definitions relating to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which addressed the application of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to genetic information. The definitions are in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. The Final Rule states: …
Tag: Secretary of HHS
CMS Issues Final Administrative Simplification Final Rules Regarding Identifiers and ICD-10 Code Set Compliance Delay
August 24, 2012. Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed review and sent to the Federal Register for publication on September 5, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Final Rule: Administrative Simplification: Adoption of a Standard for a Unique Health Plan Identifier; Addition to the National Provider Identifier Requirements; and a Change to the Compliance Date for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS) Medical Data Code Sets. The effective date of the Rule is November 5, 2012. Prior to publication, the Final Rule may be examined at or downloaded from the Office of the Federal Register’s Electronic Public Inspection Desk. Here…
Exploring HIPAA and HITECH Act Definitions: Part 15
From now through December, HIPAA.com is providing a run through of HIPAA transaction & code set, privacy, and security definitions, along with relevant HITECH Act definitions pertaining to breach notification, securing of protected health information, and electronic health record (EHR) standards development and adoption. These definitions are key to understanding the referenced HIPAA and HITECH Act enabling regulations that are effective now and that will require compliance by covered entities and business associates now or in the months ahead, as indicated in HIPAA.com’s timeline. Each posting will contain three definitions, with a date reference to the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), or statute, as appropriate. Exploring HIPAA and…
HITECH and HIPAA Training: Time to Double Down
As the healthcare industry continues to digest profound HITECH changes to HIPAA Privacy and Security rules, two observations already are apparent and indisputable for covered entities and their business associates. First, time and resources spent on a workforce that is well-trained on the Privacy and Security rules will be an investment of exponential value. Second, enforcement of those same rules will make negligent and uncorrected errors very costly. A well-trained workforce makes fewer mistakes, and identifies and fixes those that it makes. A workforce that violates the rules because it does not know them or does not care to know them makes an inviting target for HITECH’s new enforcement initiatives….