Pulsara’s Post

HEDIS and other critical healthcare audits are happening now. Do you have the information you need to protect your organization from expensive HIPAA fines? Learn more: https://hubs.li/Q02qqCHb0 #HIPAA #HEDIS #healthcareaudit

Texting guidance CMS released to hospitals in 2018 indicated that while texting patient information had become essential to operations, the practice of texting patient orders from a provider to a member of the care team was not compliant with the agency's Conditions of Participation. Texting of patient orders among members by healthcare teams is now permissible at hospitals and critical access hospitals when done through a HIPAA-compliant secure platform in compliance with CMS Conditions of Participation rules, the agency says. #HIPAA #hospitals #patientcare #patientsafety #healthcarecompliance https://lnkd.in/gJ6-XyT8

🚨 Reclaiming Time and Trust: Combating the Robocall Epidemic in Medical Practices 🚨 Did you know more than 2,700 robocalls are made every second in the U.S.? These aren't just annoying interruptions—they're a growing threat to healthcare practices. Each spam call lasting 45 seconds, adding up to hours of wasted time monthly. 🔗 Find solutions here - https://lnkd.in/gSjU7Hte #Robocalls #PatientCare #HIPAACompliance #spam #MedicalPracticeManagement #RingRx #HealthcareIT #PatientTrust

There are regular questions regarding rules on texting and health data. While OCR has not put out guidance, CMS issued a quality standard memorandum clarifying that hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) may transmit patient information and orders via text message under certain conditions. Click below to learn more: #Texting #CMS #healthdata

Texting patient info has been against Medicare’s Conditions of Participations for more than half a decade due to concerns of insecure texting platforms and the need to protect patient data. Check out this recent article from Fierce Healthcare that breaks down CMS’ new guidelines that now enable providers to incorporate texting into their workflows and EHRs, so long as the technology platforms are HIPAA compliant. This could be a game changer and another great touch point to improve patient access – what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments and read more here: https://shorturl.at/zHMS7.    

The fallout from the hack of a little-known but pivotal health-care company is inflicting pain on hospitals, doctor offices, pharmacies and millions of patients across the nation, with government and industry officials calling it one of the most serious attacks on the health-care system in U.S. history.
The Feb. 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, owned by UnitedHealth Group, has cut off many health-care organizations from the systems they rely on to transmit patients’ health-care claims and get paid. The ensuing outage doesn’t appear to affect any of the systems that provide direct, critical care to patients. But it has laid bare a vulnerability that cuts across the U.S. health-care system, frustrating patients unable to pay for their medications at the pharmacy counter and threatening the financial solvency of some organizations that rely heavily on Change’s platform.
Change Healthcare is a juggernaut in the health-care world, processing 15 billion claims totaling more than $1.5 trillion a year, the company says. It operates the largest electronic “clearinghouse” in the business, acting as a pipeline that connects health-care providers with insurance companies who pay for their services and determine what patients owe.

Recognizing how and where our health and human service systems fail BY DESIGN is the first step at sustainably improving. The second is empowering front-line staff and leadership to make and measure key changes. There should be no sacred cows when we deal so intimately with people's lives. Listen to Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP. She gets things done for #healthequity and #datadriven care.

Providers, take note! It's crucial to safeguard your patients' information. Palmetto GBA has noticed a growing issue with some outsourced billing companies skipping the required steps, putting your practice at risk. They're urging caution and reminding providers like you to ensure your billing partners are in the know about Medicare security rules and are using the right safeguards. In some states (Florida) patients PHI can not be stored outside of US soil. According to Craig A. Phillips of Dickinson Wright PLLC. There are four states that ban any Medicaid data from being stored or processed overseas (Arizona, Alaska, Ohio and Wisconsin) After all, if something goes awry, it's you who bears the responsibility. Read more about this by visiting the link below! https://bit.ly/48f1v3j #healthcareproviders #patient #medicaid #medicare #medicalbilling

I am inspired by this quote from Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP: "It's not the patients who are un-impactable, it's our approach that is un-impactful." It's time to take action, change our thinking, and redesign member and patient engagement, as well as rearchitect care and quality management, much like other industries have done with their clients. For how long will we continue to rely on traditional mail, call centers, and the impersonal walls of IVR/Bots automation? Those are dead on arrival. This change is long over due and with AI, technology and retail thinking it is easy to implement. Just do it!

The recent CMS memorandum, QSO-24-05-Hospital/CAH, issued on February 9, 2024, states that providers working in hospitals and critical access hospitals are now permitted to text patient information and orders among care team members. This update ensures that such communications do not violate Medicare's Conditions of Participation. While texting patient orders is now permitted, the memorandum emphasizes that Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is the preferred method of order entry by a provider. This clarification aims to ensure HIPAA compliance when texting patient data and to provide guidance on the permissible use of text messaging for patient information and orders within healthcare teams. Healthcare organizations will need to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the privacy and security of patient information when implementing text-based communication in compliance with the updated CMS policy. https://lnkd.in/e-W48AfB