The role of the pharmacist in the healthcare industry has been expanding over the past decade, from simple medication fulfillment to crucial patient aftercare, education, and administering vaccinations. 2015 has already seen big changes within the healthcare industry and we predict that the role of the pharmacist will only expand more.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! In the spirit of the holiday, we wanted to share a few fun facts.
In the wake of the Anthem breach, which put 800,000 subscribers at risk, hospitals nationwide have their ears perked up to establish a first-line defense against data breaches. These types of breaches cost the industry over $6 billion each year.
Many healthcare providers are gearing up in 2015 for the HIPAA enforcement that's slotted to take place throughout the year. In fact, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) anticipates receiving 17,000+ complaints this year filed for breaches of private patient information. As of early December 2014, 1,170 security breaches under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act involving 31 million records had been reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--so the problem of data breaches is very real. Enforcement can come with serious fines for violations, too. Accidental violations can cost anywhere from $100-$50,000...even on the first offense. So what should you be on the lookout for? In this post, we'll discuss some of the main areas you should beef up security around to prepare for HIPAA enforcement.
Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) is on the mind of many, if not all, hospital administrators and executives. With the roll out ICD-10 and the changes to reimbursement models, new RCM solutions are becoming critical for hospitals hoping to survive through 2015.
The Quantified Self Movement was started back in 2007 by a group of bloggers at Wired Magazine who began blogging about the concept of “life logging” or, as it’s sometimes called, humanistic intelligence. The implications of this technological innovation have widespread implications for healthcare improvement, and tech megaliths like Apple and Sony have been anxious to get their piece of the pie by racing to develop apps and wearable tech for patients.
Recent reports show that 89 new Accountable Care Organizations have now joined the Medicare Shared Savings Program, so that over 400 ACOs are participating in the program. So what are the new regulations for this group of ACOs? They seem to be changing over time.
While the myriad ways in which ACOs benefit patients and healthcare organizations have been heavily touted over the last several years, many doctors find themselves asking “Yeah – well, what’s in it for me?”
With all this talk about making patient records more accessible to care teams via the magic of the electronic record, HIPAA and HITECH— the two laws that govern patient privacy — might seem like a bit of a downer. They serve a very explicit purpose, however, and ensuring that you are always in compliance will not only save you legal woes, but money in the form of fines and penalties for breaches. There are some obvious breaches of confidentiality that we must strive to avoid: you would never, for instance, post to all your Facebook followers the name, diagnosis and prognosis of a particularly difficult patient that you had today. What you might do instead, though, is go home and tell your spouse all about it. That’s a HIPAA violation.
Open enrollment for health insurance under the ACA may have ended February 15, but an extra enrollment period (Special Enrollment Period) will take effect March 15 to April 15. So if you missed the deadline, you might have a few options to get coverage.