Hayes Review: February 2010

Note from Pete

By Pete Butler

HIMSS is next week, and I hope to see many of you there. HIStalk asked its sponsors what they thought people would be talking about at HIMSS, and I shared with them what I’ll share with you.  I think people have more questions than answers right now.

Privacy and security:  How do we ensure privacy of a shared patient record?  How to we guard against security breaches?  Are we sure we have robust technical solutions in place to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery processes? 

Guiding principles when sharing EHR solutions:  What is the legal medical record when you have a hybrid solution across a domain which includes independent providers? What are the responsibilities of the host organization who delivers the solution to ensure the integrity and quality of the data?  What medical/ethical liabilities are we creating for all providers on the system if we do not ensure the integrity and quality of the record we are delivering?

As the HITECH Act enables greater participation in the creation of electronic medical records, implementing these solutions raises many new considerations we will need to address rapidly.

Hayes consultants have weighed in on these issues. Regarding privacy and security, read Rob Drewniak’s article from our Fall 2009 newsletter, Are You Prepared for the Unexpected? and view our on demand webinar, HIPAA 2010 Compliance – Meeting the ARRA Challenges.

For guiding principles when sharing EHR solutions, read Hospital/Physician Alignment article in this issue of Hayes Review.  Also, read about how to budget for an EHR, and ensure a successful go-live.

Billing compliance is also under increased scrutiny, with Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Hayes’ MDaudit Professional and MDaudit Hospital solutions mitigate compliance risk. Find out about the ease of performing risk-based audits in this issue as well.

Send me an email if you’d like to discuss how Hayes can help with any of these timely and important issues. I also hope to see you at the HIMSS conference – email me to schedule a time to meet up there.

Until then, thank you all for reaching out to Hayes to help you through this challenging, but exciting chapter in healthcare.

Pete Butler