William,
  
This question always come up in my seminars, my standard answer is, you
may not have to legally comply, however HIPAA is meant to be best
business practices, it's meant to protect a patients privacy. Think
about it this way, on April 15 it's estimated over 10 million Notices of
Privacy practice will be sent out or acknowledged. You can bet a single
consumer will receive several, all indicating how each particular
healthcare provider will protect their personal health information.
Maybe they won't care that a particular provider doesn't give them one
of these documents, they will probably still hold them to the standard.

BTW the definition of "in electronic form" is as follows (from CMS)

In Electronic Form
Using electronic media, as that term is defined at 45 C.F.R. 162.103. It
includes transmissions over the Internet (wide-open), Extranet (using
Internet technology to link a business with information only accessible
to collaborating parties), leased lines, dial-up lines, and private
networks, and those transmissions that are physically moved from one
location to another using magnetic tape, disk, or CD media.

Hope this helps,
Scott Kimbel
Kimbel Morrow and Associates Inc.
866-598-2593

   


-----Original Message-----
From: William J. Kammerer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] 
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 11:54 AM
To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List
Subject: Re: Covered Entity or Not

I believe you - I've heard nonsense interpretations along those lines in
the past, too.  But I have a solution.  In order for my chiropractor to
avoid sanctions and penalties for sending his electronic transaction via
his computer fax without using the standard X12 format, he can instead
fax it to a heavily capitalized clearinghouse with a large IT staff.
Since the clearinghouse can operate as a non-covered entity whenever it
damn well pleases, it can print out the fax and mail it to the payer for
35¢ plus postage.

William J. Kammerer
Novannet, LLC.
Columbus, US-OH 43221-3859
+1 (614) 487-0320

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rachel Foerster" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, 02 February, 2003 02:32 PM
Subject: RE: Covered Entity or Not



According to CMS, yes, this scenario would constitute an electronic
transaction, and thus be subject to HIPAA requirements. This topic was
discussed a few weeks ago on another SNIP list (can't recall which one)
and HIPAAlive, I think. Zon Owen responded with a message that attempted
to bring insight into CMS' thinking about why this would be electronic
transactions - something along the lines of this being
computer-to-computer and thus electronic. William, you're good with the
archives of these lists - I bet you can find the thread in a heartbeat!

Don't yell at me....I think this is one of the most ludicrous things
amongst myriad HIPAA ludicrous stuff.

Rachel Foerster
Principal
Rachel Foerster & Associates, Ltd.
Professionals in Health Care EDI
39432 North Avenue
Beach Park, IL 60099
Voice: 847-872-8070
Fax: 847-872-6860
eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]



-----Original Message-----
From: William J. Kammerer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 11:52 AM
To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List
Subject: Re: Covered Entity or Not


So, let's say I'm a part-time chiropractor and I have occasion to send
in a dozen or so claims a week. I get tired of hand-filling in the HCFA
1500, so I get a Word document template for the form and key data in,
perhaps with the aid of a macro. Then I use my Fax software on my laptop
to send the image of the Word document to the payer. Does that count as
an electronic transaction? Does that now make me a covered entity? Will
I now get in trouble, facing onerous fines and penalties?

That would be a hoot, considering that Clearinghouses think they can
(and undoubtedly will) "dump" claims to paper - even when providers send
electronic transactions to them in the first place! The clearinghouse
simply says it's not a covered entity for the moment!

Where's the justice (or administrative simplification) in all of this?
What kind of Bizarro world is this?

William J. Kammerer
Novannet, LLC.
Columbus, US-OH 43221-3859
+1 (614) 487-0320

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rachel Foerster" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, 02 February, 2003 12:10 PM
Subject: RE: Covered Entity or Not

Fax is considered an electronic transaction by CMS if the document
originated as an electronic document in a computer system and is faxed
from that computer system.

Rachel Foerster
Principal
Rachel Foerster & Associates, Ltd.
Professionals in Health Care EDI
39432 North Avenue
Beach Park, IL 60099
Voice: 847-872-8070
Fax: 847-872-6860
eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rfa-edi.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Noel Chang [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2003 8:19 PM
To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List
Subject: Re: Covered Entity or Not


Charles,

The definition of a "covered entity" entails more than just filing
electronic claims. There are several "covered transactions" and if you
conduct any of them electronically then you are a CE and must comply
with HIPAA.

For a complete list of "covered transactions" refer to the Transaction
and Code Set Standards.

I would also note that the definition of conducting a transaction
"electronically" is often debated. I know HHS has indicated in the
preamble to the Privacy Rule that a fax does not count as electronic
transmission.

Noel Chang
--
Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)



----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, 31 January, 2003 10:57 AM
Subject: Covered Entity or Not



At a meeting yesterday of our parent organization's privacy officers we
had a discussion I'd appreciate some feedback on. One of the
organizations is a long-term care/retirement facility that indicated
they do not "bill" electronically. Therefore they are not a covered
entity. However, after further discussion they indicated they do in fact
send via fax and/or email individual identifiable health information to
other covered entities (ie hospitals, referral agencies, and referring
agencies). Some contended because they did not use EDI, they didn't
really need to comply, others indicated they were because they do send
PHI via electronic media.

Can anyone provide an insight?

Thanks.

Charles.

********************************


Charles R. Carnahan, M.Div., M.B.A.


Chief Operating Officer


CAB Health and Recovery Services, Inc.


111 Middleton Road


Danvers, MA 01923


Phone: 978-739-7600


FAX: 978-750-3620


www.cabhealth.org



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