The Federal Trade Commission has pushed back the compliance deadline for its identity theft “red flag” rules. The original deadline was less than two weeks away. The new deadline is May 1, 2009.

The red flag rules require businesses that extend credit to their customers to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs. Healthcare organizations fall under the rule, say attorneys. (more…)

AHIMA has submitted official comments on the adoption and implementation of the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS classification systems. In part, AHIMA:

• Recommends that the implementation of the two classifications and the related HIPAA transaction updates should occur over a three-year period, with the date of final compliance no later than October 1, 2012
• Supports a single compliance date across the entire US healthcare industry and recommends that the compliance date, once designated, not be extended, which would cause confusion and add costs (more…)

UPDATE: CMS has since released new clarification stating that stamps are not prohibited under the Conditions of Participation, but that some payers may not accept them.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no longer accepts signature stamps on any record. CMS attempted to clarify the scope of the ban this summer, but the message may not have percolated to all corners of the industry yet.

In July CMS stated that “stamped signatures are not acceptable on any medical record.” The prohibition applies to all providers and suppliers. Medicare will only accept “handwritten, electronic signatures or facsimiles of original written or electronic signatures.”

In spring CMS published a ban on signature stamps focused narrowly on the certification of terminal illness for hospice. The subsequent July notice explicitly included all medical records. (more…)

In Illinois healthcare organizations and trial lawyers are disagreeing over how much facilities may charge when fulfilling requests for health records that are stored electronically. Also at issue is whether facilities must provide their digital records in a digital format.

A state law lowering the copy fees for electronic documents went into effect January 1, 2008. The law, the result of negotiations that tempered reductions in earlier proposed legislation, is already being countered with a bill to create a higher flat rate for all copying, regardless of record format.

In part, the tug-of-war highlights the gap between expectations over health IT’s potential and the current reality on the ground. (more…)

The October issue explores the HIM jobs of tomorrow and how current roles will evolve in the future. Other features report on medico-legal issues in electronic records, HIM specialty tracks and associate degrees, new Joint Commission standards and processes, and successful recruitment strategies. (more…)

A practice brief in the October issue offers a great introduction to enterprise content and record management and its application in healthcare organizations. The online version offers five web-only extras that help organizations begin planning. (more…)