While we all wait for reform, we can busy ourselves with RAC audit preparation.
Revenue Audit Contractors are upon the land, working on contingency to find all of the waste and fraud in the health care system.
Since most of you have so little to do anyway, we should be thinking about how to prepare for and respond to RAC auditing.
After the New Year we will be publishing a checklist format paper on how to cope with RAC. The link will be here.
Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Google Your Practice Name
If you are lucky the first results will be your practice website and links to favorable news articles.
If you are not so lucky, you may hit websites where patients can complain about physicians, or maybe an employee's Facebook page.
You need to know.
If you are not so lucky, you may hit websites where patients can complain about physicians, or maybe an employee's Facebook page.
You need to know.
Monday, November 23, 2009
CER Hits a Snag
Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) may have inadvertently lost credibility even before health care reform is actually launched.
CER is the darling of the government-dominated health reform movement (not a government take-over, to be clear). The use of evidence-based medicine when combined with cost-benefit analysis has the potential to save a great deal of money while better serving the patients. Many see downsides though; too rigid protocols and interference with physician judgment, or the dirty “R” word, rationing.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently released a study on various breast cancer screening modalities, recommending more limited screening protocols, particularly delaying routine mammography until age 50 (except in women with unusual risk factors).
Kah – boom!
USPSTF points out film mammography does cut mortality, with the greatest reductions in women over 50, with the best results in the age 60 – 69 cohort. Film mammography does carry a risk of false positives and the pain and inconvenience of unnecessary biopsies.
USPSTF also recommends ceasing mammography on women over 74, citing a lack of reliable evidence of reduced mortality.
There was a huge backlash from women, physicians, cancer activists and some health care associations.
USPSTF also recommends against teaching women to perform ”breast self-exam” (BSE) which has been a standard tool for decades. More backlash.
USPSTF does point out that digital and MRI mammography do not show, at this time, significant improvement over film mammography, but do have greater costs.
None of the conclusion appear to have been made on strong and startling statistics, but on think pros and cons, as one might expect from quants and scientists.
Women apparently want a little less quant and a lot more consideration.
USPSTF report:
http://www.annals.org/content/151/10/716.full
cross-posted at: http://healthcarethinktank.blogspot.com/
CER is the darling of the government-dominated health reform movement (not a government take-over, to be clear). The use of evidence-based medicine when combined with cost-benefit analysis has the potential to save a great deal of money while better serving the patients. Many see downsides though; too rigid protocols and interference with physician judgment, or the dirty “R” word, rationing.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently released a study on various breast cancer screening modalities, recommending more limited screening protocols, particularly delaying routine mammography until age 50 (except in women with unusual risk factors).
Kah – boom!
USPSTF points out film mammography does cut mortality, with the greatest reductions in women over 50, with the best results in the age 60 – 69 cohort. Film mammography does carry a risk of false positives and the pain and inconvenience of unnecessary biopsies.
USPSTF also recommends ceasing mammography on women over 74, citing a lack of reliable evidence of reduced mortality.
There was a huge backlash from women, physicians, cancer activists and some health care associations.
USPSTF also recommends against teaching women to perform ”breast self-exam” (BSE) which has been a standard tool for decades. More backlash.
USPSTF does point out that digital and MRI mammography do not show, at this time, significant improvement over film mammography, but do have greater costs.
None of the conclusion appear to have been made on strong and startling statistics, but on think pros and cons, as one might expect from quants and scientists.
Women apparently want a little less quant and a lot more consideration.
USPSTF report:
http://www.annals.org/content/151/10/716.full
cross-posted at: http://healthcarethinktank.blogspot.com/
Thursday, October 29, 2009
HIPAA Security Alert
HIPAA Horrors
The Blade (Toledo) reports on October 28th an imaging technician was arrested in Ohio for driving infractions and possession of marijuana.
During the arrest the police scanned his cell phone.
In his phone were photos of dozens of partially clad patients preparing for imaging tests, including minors.
Wow.
The penalties and lawsuits are likely to be massive.
The Blade (Toledo) reports on October 28th an imaging technician was arrested in Ohio for driving infractions and possession of marijuana.
During the arrest the police scanned his cell phone.
In his phone were photos of dozens of partially clad patients preparing for imaging tests, including minors.
Wow.
The penalties and lawsuits are likely to be massive.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
HIPAA Security Alert
Does your practice sell or trade-in used cell phones?
If you do, you MUST scrub the data from the phones before you trade them.
If you do, you MUST scrub the data from the phones before you trade them.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Health Care Reform Part 2
President Obama's speech yesterday was "hitting the reset button" for health care reform.
First impressions - the numbers do not add up.
And every President since Nixon has promised to reduce "waste, fraud and abuse" from Medicare and Medicaid.
Game on!
First impressions - the numbers do not add up.
And every President since Nixon has promised to reduce "waste, fraud and abuse" from Medicare and Medicaid.
Game on!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
HIPAA Security Social Nightmares
Facebook ™, Myspace ™, Twitter ™ and millions of web logs (“blogs”) are connecting people worldwide, and that includes your employees.
Some business organizations are using these social networks, some not, but either way it is a good bet your employees are using these sites to connect with and expand their social networks.
That can be a huge problem!
Employees used to flashing every aspect of their lives on-line are very likely to discuss work on-line as well.
Social networks sites create a huge risk for HIPAA violations, and also for employee problems (some of the comments posted can be incredibly vicious),
HIPAA is 24/7!
No, you cannot control your employees lives, EXCEPT as it relates to work.
Every health care organization should develop policies and procedures on the use of social networking sites for the broadcast of work related information. Soon.
Some business organizations are using these social networks, some not, but either way it is a good bet your employees are using these sites to connect with and expand their social networks.
That can be a huge problem!
Employees used to flashing every aspect of their lives on-line are very likely to discuss work on-line as well.
Social networks sites create a huge risk for HIPAA violations, and also for employee problems (some of the comments posted can be incredibly vicious),
HIPAA is 24/7!
No, you cannot control your employees lives, EXCEPT as it relates to work.
Every health care organization should develop policies and procedures on the use of social networking sites for the broadcast of work related information. Soon.
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