In an effort to direct HIM professionals to the sections of the HITECH-HIPAA omnibus privacy and security final rule that specifically impacts the HIM industry, and provide guidance on how to respond, AHIMA staff experts have posted a full analysis of the lengthy rule on AHIMA’s website.

The final rule includes significant additions and modifications to HIPAA requirements, called for in the 2009 ARRA-HITECH Act, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008…

Enforcement of two new HIPAA transaction operating rules has been delayed 90 days by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS). The operating rules, which are intended to simplify and standardize complex administrative healthcare transactions and are required for all HIPAA-covered entities, will not be enforced by OESS until March 31, 2013—though the formal compliance date for the rules remains January 1, 2013, according to a CMS press release.

The way many coders have been assigning their DRG principal procedure codes could be wrong, according to the fourth quarter 2012 Coding Clinic. Hear more in this audio feature.

Large-scale and national EHR vendors are not the only ones succeeding in selling EHR systems thanks to the federal government’s “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program. Smaller, local vendors are now right alongside major vendors in the number of hospital clients they have helped attest to the Medicare portion of the meaningful use program. And while large healthcare organizations were some of the first to attest to meaningful use, smaller healthcare organizations are gaining ground in the incentive program, according to an article in Modern Healthcare.

A new white paper from AHIMA’s thought leadership series offers guidance on examining coding compliance policy and testing it against upcoming challenges in clinical documentation and associated coding. “Defining the Core Clinical Documentation Set for Coding Compliance,” authored by Bonnie Cassidy, MPA, RHIA, FHIMSS, FAHIMA, lays out strategies for organizations to take the next steps in that process. “Whether your medical record is paper-based, electronic, or hybrid, a high-integrity coding compliance policy should be written and updated at least once per year as part of an information governance framework,” Cassidy says.

Federal officials have sent a letter to several healthcare associations warning their members that the use of electronic health record (HER) systems to “upcode” and inflate medical bills will result in prosecution.

AHIMA has published a new toolkit, “Amendments in the Electronic Health Record,” that provides guidance on how to maintain the integrity and accuracy of an electronic health record system (EHR) when staff use the system’s amendment functionality.

With the recent release of the stage 2 “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program measures and standards, new challenges and exciting opportunities are knocking at healthcare providers’ and vendors’ doors. The HITECH Act, published in 2009, launched the EHR Incentive Program, which promotes the adoption and meaningful use of health IT software by US healthcare providers. While providers have the opportunity to receive incentive payments for early adoption of certified software, those not adopting certified EHR systems will be financially penalized starting in 2015. Based on the timeline given in the final rule, providers should begin working to demonstrate meaningful use in 2013 in order to be compliant by 2015.