![]() ![]() Stop by the site periodically for updates on any HIPAA changes. The AMA provides a wealth of information about HIPAA and how to work toward compliance. Get transcripts or view a Web broadcast of "Meeting the HIPAA Challenge: An Introduction to the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Regulations.". To complete the awareness phase O.D.s must obtain information about HIPAA standards, discuss the information with vendors, and conduct preliminary staff education.Ĭenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Youre asked to provide the dates when you began (or plan to begin) an awareness phase, as well as when you plan to complete it. These questions relate to your understanding of the new standards. Implementation strategy phase oneHIPAA awareness. Or, if you prefer, you can select Dont know. To answer this question, you can select from a list of expense ranges. HHS is trying to gauge the financial impact of the new standards. For example, are you applying because you need more money or more staff to make the changes? Here, youll choose from a laundry list of reasons. Youll need to familiarize yourself with the new regulations in order to answer these questions: However, some forethought is required because questions are geared toward getting you to think about the new regulations and how you will prepare your practice to comply with them. The extension form is fairly straightforward. If you submit any claims electronically, these rules apply to you.Īn added incentive to comply: If you dont, the government is threatening exclusion from Medicare and/or up to $250,000 in fines and 10 years behind bars. If you apply by October 15, 2002, HHS will give you until October 16, 2003, to comply with HIPAAs electronic transactions rules. With so much uncertainty surrounding privacy regulations, coupled with the time and money that electronic medical records compliance may cost, you might want to apply for an extension. Thats assuming the Bush administration doesnt change the rules (which it has already proposed to do) while you are midstream in the process of implementing them. HHS estimates that it will cost the average health-care practitioner $1,608 to comply with its regulations the first year, and about $906 a year after that. Obviously, this presents some challenges for optometric practices. So, what exactly does the government want you to implement? Does it want you to prepare to comply with the original final rule or the un-modified final rulethe one that HHS has not yet approved? ![]() The paradox: Despite its proclamations that the rules contained in the final rule may change at some unspecified date, HHS says youre required to be in compliance by April 14, 2003the same deadline you were given to comply with the un-modified final rule. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can change HIPAA rules whenever it sees fit. Granted, the privacy regulations are not yet set in stone. The Bush administration has proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), but dont let that lull you into a false sense of security. ![]()
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