The MedSafe Compliance Corner

The wall of cascading water was designed to bring feelings of peace and tranquility to the hospital reception area. It offered a place of respite from the ringing phones, beeping equipment, and bustling activity associated with a busy, active, medical facility. But it also harbored the deadly bacteria legionella, responsible for Legionnaires disease, and eight people exposed to the airborne bacteria contracted the severe and potentially life-threatening form of pneumonia.

This week, In The Know, looks at the following news stories: 5 Percent of Patients Responsible for Half of Health Care Costs; Obesity Rates Stop Increasing, but Fail to Decline; Twenty Percent of Americans Experience Mental Illness; Tamiflu’s Efficacy Questioned; Noise Levels in Hospital Rooms Can Be As Loud as Chainsaws.

There are few words in the English language that evoke such bone-chilling, stomach-churning fear as the five-letter, two-syllable word “audit.” Even the most law-abiding, receipt-hoarding, fastidious, record-keeping number cruncher trembles when, upon opening the envelope, he stares fixedly on the most ominous of words. It is usually the IRS that elicits such visions of impending doom, but now health care providers are squirming as the new HIPAA compliance audit program has begun.

This week, In The Know, looks at the following news stories: Rule Issued on Electronic Payments from Insurers; 86% of Patient Harm Events Unreported by Hospital Staff; Excedrin, Bufferin, and Other Novartis Products Recalled; Cancer Death Rates Decline; Final Round of Health Plan Waivers Issued; Health Care Employment Up; List of 26 Medicaid Quality Measures Published.

With confusion surrounding some of the HIPAA Rules, this short quiz may help you understand some finer points. If you missed last week’s quiz, click here for Part I. Then take this week’s quiz to see how you fare.

The Affordable Care Act required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a core set of health quality measures by January 1, 2012. After numerous meetings with representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS published 51 quality measures, however, after receiving comments that 51 was too many, it trimmed the list to 26. (To read the original list of 51, click here.) The list will eventually be used to determine the quality of care that adult Medicaid patients are receiving in each state.

This week, In The Know, looks at the following news stories: FDA Approves Pneumonia Vaccine for People Ages 50 and Older; Prepayment Audits Postponed by Medicare; FDA Bans Use of Antibiotic Cephalosporin in Animals; CMS Has Selected 73 Applicants for Innovation Advisors Program; National Hospice Sued for False Claims in a Whistleblower Suit.

The rules regarding HIPAA can be somewhat confusing. Take the quiz below to see if you know what is and what is not a HIPAA violation.

This week, In The Know, looks at the following news stories: Pioneer ACOs Selected;Government Recovers Record-Breaking Amounts in Whistleblower Fraud Cases;Nearly $300 Million Awarded to States for Enrolling Children in Health Coverage; Breaches of Health Care Information Reaches 18 Million and Counting.

As everyone is about to make their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and get in shape, federal health officials have released a list of 12 “high priority” indicators of health, which the government will track over the next decade to determine the progress and status of the nation’s health. The 12 indicators are part of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Healthy People 2020 initiative.