RE: medical vendors as Business Associates

Doug, This is another example of the daunting enforcement task CMS has.  There are so many interconnected issues that have no clear resolution.  Somebody should calculate the cost of the lack of clarity of HIPAA.   Regards,   David Frenkel Business Development GEFEG USA Global Le

'Do Not Call' follow-up

AT&T Government Solutions Awarded $3.5 Million Contract by FTC to Develop And Implement 'Do Not Call' Registry Consumer Registration Expected This Summer   VIENNA, Va., Feb 26, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- AT&T Government Solutions announced today it has been awarded a $3.5 m

Another thread on Security/Privacy question

What about the card swipes that we use when a patient makes a payment on their account using their credit card. Yes, we only swipe the card and put in the last four digits of the number, but the patient name (or whoever owns the card) prints out on the receipt. Is that considered PHI, even tho

RE: Amendment Questions

Patricia, 1) It depends what you say in your NPP, but HIPAA does not mandate that a CE include past information (i.e., PHI created prior to the compliance date) 2) HIPAA does NOT require a "written" request from the individual I hope that this helps. Your questions are always welcome. Matt

Standard transactions - POS Terminals

Douglas, I recently participated in the development of Internet-based online systems with a major health plan.  It should be noted that there may be a qualification regarding the requirement to use standard transactions (such as 270/271, 278, etc.) with online systems, i.e. the format portion of t

Re: Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

Richard, http://www.wpc-edi.com   has all the Implimentation Guides and Addenda available for download.   The big thing is that if there is a 004010-series IG for what you're doing, you have to use it, and any provider who uses one of your terminals is a Covered Entity, and subject to the ful

Re: Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

Catherine, Just a clarification. These non-financial POS terminals would have to use standard transactions (such as 270/271, 278, etc.) to do their job when a standard is available.   The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily the opinion of LCMH.   Douglas M. WebbComputer Sys

RE: Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

The Transactions that these POS terminals will be supporting are HealthCare transactions - 270/271, 277/275, 835, 837 etc... Where can I find more information about the TCS rule? Thanks, Richard -Original Message- From: Catherine Lohmeier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, Februar

RE: Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

I don't see these POS terminals being affected by HIPAA if in fact they are doing a financial transaction...ie patient is making a payment for services rendered(paying the co-pay with a credit card). Now, there is a network of POS terminals that do eligibility checks and referrals etc..these termi

Amendment Questions

I have two questions regarding amendment of the medical/billing record. 1. Do we have to amend info kept prior to the deadline? (The disclosure log specifically says you do not, but nothing on the amendment. What about all those places that have info on microfilm?) and 2. When a patient ca

Re: Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

Richard, The first question is: Is what is being transmitted Protected Healthcare Information?  If not all the rest is moot.  If what is being transmitted is strictly the financial data (This merchant charged this person this much), it probably isn't PHI, but just money.   If it is you must d

RE: medical vendors as Business Associates

This letter linked to this e-mail is interesting, I am sure many providers are struggling with this same issue. But I think the relevant question is do medical vendors really provide treatment (by HIPAA definition), therefore exempting this use/disclosure from a BA agreement? I have the definition

Questions in regard to Security/Privacy

I would like to know how the privacy & security act under HIPAA will impact our current systems today? I support POS card/swipe machines that dialup (via an async/sync modem) over the public telephone system into a server that is connected to a private network. These machines (terminals) are locate

Re: Medicare audits: operations?

Medicare reimburses for the "Bad Debt" of providers, under certain circumstances, subject to a cost report audit. SEE CFR 412.115(a) and CFR 413.80.I think it is mostly deductibles and coinsurance. So that the provider is held harmless to revenue loss by the failure of benes to pay th

Re: medical vendors as Business Associates

Jo, quite so. I would lkie to call an entity that would be a CE if they did a single electronic transaction that a standard has been established for a "Potential Covered Entity" (PCE) and avoid all the repeated verbiage. Any takers?   The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily

RE: BA Agreement

Perhaps look at this upside down. If you were the elderly person and participated in the program only to find out that your PHI had been disclosed, likely you would go after the pharmacist first but also the group that facilitated this program since they were the ones to select this pharmacist and