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Hello,
President
outlines health reform principles in letter
On June 2, President Obama sent Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Edward Kennedy. D-Mass., chairman of the
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, a letter detailing
the administration’s principles on health care reform. Read this letter on
in the MGMA
Health Reform area.
Sen.
Kennedy releases health reform position paper for key Senate committee
Sen. Ted
Kennedy, D-Mass., recently released a health policy briefing paper to frame
health reform discussions for the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions, which he chairs. Major issues raised in the paper
include:
- Creation of
a public-sponsored health plan
- Formation of
national and state-based “Health Benefit Exchanges”
- Requirement
that all individuals have health insurance
- Mandate that
employers contribute to employee health coverage
- Preventing
insurers from denying coverage based on applicants’ health status
- Establishment
of “fair premiums” that vary only within “clear and reasonable limits”
- Creation of
measures to improve health care efficiency
- Establishment
of “medical homes” for patients with specific chronic health
conditions
- Establishment
of a “Workforce Commission” to ensure a sufficient supply of
physicians
Read
this document and other health reform discussion papers at the MGMA
Health Care Reform Resource Center.
MGMA
urges HHS to expand “safe harbors” for privacy breaches
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has urged the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand the list of methods that would
render protected health information (PHI) unusable, unreadable or
indecipherable to unauthorized individuals. The Association made its recommendations in
formal comments to the Agency on its recent guidance, which was released
pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). ARRA
requires covered entities and business associates to disclose to patients all
security breaches that expose patients’ information to unauthorized
persons. The guidance sets forth safe harbors that, if implemented, will
exempt covered entities and business associates from having to notify their
patients.
MGMA supported the guidance’s identification of encryption and destruction
of PHI as two ways to render a patient’s health information unusable if
it’s stolen or otherwise compromised. The Association recommended that a
breach notification should not be required if a physician practice
experienced a breach involving a “limited data set.” In a limited data set,
several “facial” identifiers have been removed — including names, street
addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, Social
Security numbers, and account numbers.
MGMA also called on the government to offer guidance on practical,
inexpensive technological measures and methods to protect PHI. This would
ensure that the broadest number of physician practices would adhere to the
recommendations.
CMS
releases PQRI and e-prescribing guide for the office manager
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted Physician
Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) & E-Prescribing: Implementation Advice
for the Office Manager. It contains an overview of the PQRI and
advice on participating in the three 2009 PQRI options that begins this
July.
CMS also
announced a help line and e-mail resource for PQRI participants. You can
call toll-free 866.288.8912 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Eastern time, or send
your PQRI questions to pqri_inquiry@cms.hhs.gov.
CMS
posts quarterly CCI edits
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently posted the
Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits that take effect July 1. In the
agency’s words, the purpose of the CCI is “to promote national correct
coding methodologies and to control improper coding leading to
inappropriate payment in Part B claims.”
More CCI
information from CMS.
Read a CMS
CCI educational article.
June
18 conference call on funds for emergency care for undocumented persons
On June
18 from 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern time, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services contractor will conduct a free conference call on the Section
1011 program, which allows Medicare funding for emergency services provided
to undocumented aliens.
Register for
this call.
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June 5, 2009
- President outlines health reform principles in letter
- Sen. Kennedy releases health reform position paper for key
Senate committee
- MGMA urges HHS to expand “safe harbors” for privacy breaches
- CMS releases PQRI and e-prescribing guide for the
office manager
- CMS posts quarterly CCI edits
- June 18 conference call on funds for emergency care
for undocumented persons
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