Five Gray Areas of HIPAA You Can’t Ignore
With the U.S. Office for Civil Right’s Phase 2 HIPAA audits now underway, there’s no room for complacency when it comes to HIPAA compliance. A new white paper from Scrypt Inc. highlights five areas of HIPAA compliance that have room for misinterpretation. Scrypt Inc. helps practices protect sensitive…
Court case examines telemedicine safety regulations
A case before a United States Court of Appeals could restrict a state medical board from protecting patient safety through the regulation of telemedicine in that state. {click to view the latest telemedicine news in Arkansas} At stake in Teladoc, Inc. v. Texas Medical Board is whether the…
3 Useful Changes to Meaningful Use
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed changes to the Meaningful Use program that are intended to relieve physician reporting burdens. Those changes include reducing the 2016 reporting period to 90 days. Based on feedback from the health care community, the proposed changes "better support…
Visitors to Dominican Republican make up over 20% of Zika cases in US
Kaiser Health News (7/22, Galewitz) reports that “visitors to the Dominican Republic account for more than a fifth of the confirmed Zika cases in the U.S. through mid-July, according to data from state health departments.” According to Kaiser Health News, “in part, it reflects travel patterns between people…
Obama signs legislation to curb opioid addiction
The AP (7/22) reported President Obama on Friday “signed into law a bill to curb abuse of heroin and opioid drugs, even as he expressed bitter disappointment with Republicans for not providing more money for addiction treatment.” In a statement, Obama said, “Given the scope of this crisis,…
Proposed Arkansas telemedicine regulations stall in legislative panel
By John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK — A legislative panel declined Monday to sign off on proposed regulations to allow doctors to treat Arkansas patients remotely using audio and video technology. During a joint meeting of the House and Senate committees on public health, welfare and labor,…
Doctor warns Arkansas legislative panel of opioid addiction epidemic in state
By John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK — Like the rest of the nation, Arkansas is experiencing an epidemic of addiction to opioids, or drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences professor told a state legislative panel Monday.…
House passes long-delayed mental health reform legislation
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 7/7/2016 The Wall Street Journal (7/6, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports that on July 6, by a vote of 422 to 2, the House of Representatives passed HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. The Hill (7/6, Sullivan) reports that…
Second case of bacteria resistant to colistin found in US
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 7/12/2016 The Washington Post (7/11, Sun) reports researchers have detected bacteria with the mcr-1 gene, which makes them resistant to the “antibiotic of last resort” colistin, in a second patient in the US, according to a study published on Monday in Antimicrobial…
New eBook guides providers in assessing security risks
Download CYBER WAR: Securing Patient Health Information in Today’s Electronic Environment A new eBook by Ancil Lea, former executive director of the Regional Extension Center for the state of Arkansas, helps medical providers by guiding them in assessing security risks in relationship to Patient Health Information (PHI). The book…
House approves bill that includes $1.1 billion for Zika
(AMA Mourning Rounds, 6-23-16) The AP (6/23, Taylor) reports the House has approved “a $1.1 billion House-Senate measure to combat the Zika virus, but the GOP-drafted measure is a nonstarter with Senate Democrats and the Obama White House.” USA Today (6/22, Kelly) reports that “Democrats vowed to derail…