Health Information Management

CMSS joins Red Flags Rule lawsuit against FTC

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, September 6, 2010

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The Council of Medical Specialty Societies, which represents approximately 650,000 U.S. physician specialists in 34 societies, has announced its participation in a lawsuit to exempt doctors from requirements of the Red Flags Rule.

Groups such as the American Medical Association object to the Federal Trade Commission’s requirement for physicians to verify the true identity of their patients before they agree to treat them if the patients are not paying in full at the time of the visit. The intention of the requirement is to prevent potential cases of identity theft.

If a patient says he or she is someone else, the wrong person or entity would be billed for that individual’s care. But doctors say that requiring such proof of identity is time-consuming, awkward, and may delay care if the patient didn’t bring proper documents.

The FTC has postponed implementation of the Red Flags Rule five times. It is now scheduled to take effect Dec. 31.
 



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