Posts Tagged ‘electronic health records’
Electronic Health Records Company Settles Civil False Claims Lawsuit for $45 Million
Modernizing Medicine Inc. (ModMed) has agreed to pay $45 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act (FCA). The Boca Raton-based electronic health record (EHR) technology vendor is alleged to have caused millions of dollars in claims to be submitted to the federal government by accepting and providing remuneration in exchange for referrals…
Read MoreSmaller Healthcare Organizations Increasingly Target of Cyber Criminals
If your healthcare organization hasn’t become the target of a data breach, there’s a good chance it will, and even more so if it’s an outpatient facility or specialty clinic. That’s the finding of a recent report issued by Critical Insight, a cybersecurity firm. Healthcare organizations have long been ripe for cyber attacks. In fact,…
Read MoreAre You Complying with Information Blocking Rules?
Healthcare providers who fail to give patients access to their electronic health records without charge and without delay may be running afoul of a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act. These so-called “information blocking rules†went into effect April 5, 2021. The Cures Act was signed into law in December 2016 and is designed…
Read MoreEHR Companies Increasingly the Focus of DOJ Fraud Investigators
A Massachusetts-based electronic health records (EHR) company will pay more than $18 million to resolve allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to generate sales through its marketing programs. It is the latest in a number of EHR companies under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint alleges that athenahealth Inc. (Athena), violated the…
Read MoreReport Focuses on Reducing EHR-Related Burdens on Providers
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a report on ways to reduce regulatory and administrative burdens placed on providers and to help them better focus on patient care and less on paperwork, by better leveraging the use of electronic health records (EHRs). The final report “Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative…
Read MoreOCR Fact Sheet Clarifies BA Liability Under HIPAA
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights recently issued a new fact sheet on the Direct Liability of Business Associates under HIPAA. The release of the fact sheet immediately followed a settlement agreement with a business associate relating to a data breach that occurred in 2015 when hackers used a…
Read MoreHIPAA Enforcement tops $28M in 2018
If it seems as if HIPAA violations were in the news more often than ever last year, that may be because 2018 saw an all-time record year in HIPAA enforcement activity. There were 10 cases settled and one judgement secured by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human…
Read MoreGroundbreaking Rules for Electronic Health Records Proposed
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing new rules that could pave the way for increased exchange of healthcare data by 2020. The rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), would allow patients to have access…
Read MoreHIPAA Violation Results in $4.3M Fine for Cancer Center
If you haven’t taken stringent measures to protect patient privacy, this recent ruling from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administrative Law Judge might spur you into action. The ALJ ruled that University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center violated HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and granted summary judgment to the Office for…
Read MoreOIG: CMS Overpaid Providers Millions in EHR Incentive Payments
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report finding that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) overpaid some $729 million in Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments to eligible providers who did not comply with federal meaningful use requirements. In its report, the OIG…
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