Friday,
December 12, 2003
Vol. 6, No. 99
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Solve all of your biggest challenges—AUDITING, KICKBACKS, STARK, HIPAA,TRAINING, AND MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS with reporters who get the stories and ideas you need to comply and help your organization's bottom line!
"Strategies for Health Care Compliance," a 12-page monthly newsletter, helps you thrive in the ever-changing compliance environment by providing easy-to-understand compliance advice and analysis of the latest regulations. Each month, this newsletter offers how-to tips, features about your peers, policies and procedures, and tools for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your corporate compliance programs. To learn more, click here or
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On Complianceinfo.com
Sample compliance policies and procedures. (For subscribers to Strategies for Health Care Compliance only)
Sample audit programs. (For subscribers to Health Care Auditing Strategies only)
The OIG Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2003
Ask the Expert
Compliance Hot Topics: Billing and Coding, EMTALA, Stark, HIPAA
Question of the Week
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Welcome to Compliance Monitor Q&A.
Our mission is to answer your difficult compliance questions—and your simple ones, too. To submit a question, send it to Compliance Monitor Q & A editor Kate Alvarez at kalvarez@hcpro.com.
We hope you enjoy this service and we welcome your feedback.
This week's questions
Pay-per-view article
Quick survey
Questions and Answers
PHI and charitable giving
Q:
"When our social workers seek funds from a community source, such as a local church group, should they obtain an authorization to release the patient's name and address? We have some patients who need help paying for electricity, phone bills, or nonmedical items like towels and sheets. A local aid group has recently requested patient names and addresses so they know how many donations each patient receives and can avoid giving one individual an excessive amount of funds."
A:
If the entity employing the social workers is a covered entity (CE) under the HIPAA privacy rule, the social workers must obtain an authorization before releasing names and addresses, or other protected health information (PHI) to a charitable organization.
Obtaining charitable donations for patients would probably not fall under any authorization exceptions or for treatment, payment, and/or health care operations which do not require consent or authorization of the patient. I think that it won't be too difficult to obtain authorizations in this case because the patients would be direct beneficiaries of the donations sought by the social workers.
This question answered by Charles E. Colitre, President of Med-Management Group, Inc.
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WE NEED YOUR EXPERTISE!
Join the Compliance Monitor Team! Compliance Monitor Q&A relies upon experts just like you to answer pressing compliance questions. We're looking for experts in coding, billing, documentation, HIPAA, EMTALA, Stark, laboratories, and many other areas of compliance.
If you are interested in answering questions from your peers, please e-mail Compliance Monitor editor Kate Alvarez.
Explanations, case studies, and practical strategies for EMTALA compliance
"A Practical Guide to EMTALA Compliance" is a 150-page book that summarizes, clarifies, and explains EMTALA in plain-English. A study of EMTALA violations from 1996 to 2000 revealed that 90% of violations dealt with the screening, stabilization, or transfer provisions--requirements that still exist under the new law.
This practical resource thoroughly explains these requirements, provides case studies to illustrate compliance, and gives you practical strategies to make sure you comply in every patient case!
To order or learn more, including how you can save 10%,
click here
or call 800/650-6787 and mention source code EB23384D.
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Tell us about your financial policies.
Click here to take our quick survey on your financial policies and procedures.
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Pay-per-view article: How to start an IT audit group
Nearly all data that your organization audits has passed through some sort of technology. Expand your audits to cover information technology (IT) to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of your company's data.
Develop a specialized IT audit group within your department to identify your data risks, says Dave Gordon, CISA, information systems audit manager for University Hospitals Health Systems in Cleveland, OH
To find out more about IT audits, order the pay-per-view article
"
How to start an IT audit group." The cost is $10. Subscribers to the online version of Health Care Auditing Strategies have free access to this article. Subscribers to the print edition can find it in their December issues.
A $30 steal.
You can read this article and much more in the December issue of
Health Care Auditing Strategies. Your cost: Five stories for only $30. You'll also learn four ways hospital pharmacies can meet audit objectives, how to audit self-administered take home drugs, how to audit self-insured health benefit plans, and how to protect your right to audit.
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HERE'S THE TOOL YOU NEED NOW TO PREPARE FOR MEDICARE REFORM
The Medicare reform legislation is going to radically affect every health care organization. Make sure you understand exactly how it will change your life with the easy-to-use "Medicare Reform Act Analysis and Explanation."
This book, CD-ROM, and Special Report set puts the 700-page bill at your fingertips in an organized binder and searchable CD-ROM so you can find everything you need to know quickly and easily. You'll also receive a Special Report that provides stories designed to help different health care workers understand how the new bill will affect their jobs.
Click here to order or learn more or call 800/650-6787 and mention source code EB24678A.
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Defining legibility
Q:
"What is the definition of "legible" documentation?"
A: To read the answer to this question, click here.
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Quick survey:
Does your organization train employees on Medicaid compliance issues?
To submit your answer, go to the Question of the Week at
Complianceinfo.com.
Here are the answers to the last survey:
When will your organization begin auditing its HIPAA compliance program?
- Within the next six months: 68%
- In 7 to 12 months: 17%
- In 12+ months: 9%
- We do not plan to audit: 6%
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Network with your audit colleagues
"Audit Talk" is a new, moderated chat forum that members can use to post messages or questions for their peers 24-hours-a-day. "Audit Talk" offers a free forum to network, share ideas, and solve problems for those in the audit industry. Getting involved is easy. To subscribe, just send your request to this e-mail: owner-audit_talk@hcpro.com.
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Share the news
You've been benefiting from our informative
e-mail newsletter, so why not pass on this resource to your peers? Sign up a colleague and get $20 off your next purchase on HCPro's Healthcare Marketplace!
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Send your comments and questions about Compliance Monitor Q&A to:
Kate Alvarez
Editorial Assistant
kalvarez@hcpro.com
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