Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

HIPAA Compliance Starts To Take Off

After a rocky start, Health Information Portability And Accountability Act compliance is taking off, according to a survey by the American Health Information Management Association.
    
Of the HIPAA privacy officers, personnel and committee members surveyed by AHIMA, 81 percent said the staffs of their organizations were "supportive" of changes to privacy policies. Patient acceptance was agreed to be have improved from last year.

However, most are struggling with the goal of total compliance and, according to the survey, four issues are causing the most grief. 
     
Do any of theses "problem areas" sound familiar?

  • Accounting for release of protected health information.
  • Obtaining protected health information from other providers.
  • Access and release of information to relatives or significant others. 
  • Business associate requirements. 
         
    Fifty percent of respondents said that rules governing accounting for release of PHI in particular needed modifications from the federal government. 

    To see the survey, go to: http://www.ahima.org/hipaa/survey.cfm

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