| Medical Billing Articles (updated Frequently)
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| HIPAA and Email - How Does Your Practice Deal with Compliance in a Digital Age? |
| By: Marilee Veniegas |
The internet has created a new business model for the smaller
medical practice, specialty clinic and medical service (e.g.
dermatologist, plastic surgeon, physical therapist,
psychologist, et. al). More and more, patients are looking to
communicate with their healthcare providers as they do in their
personal and business lives - via email.
Email as a communication solution for the smaller clinic can be
a time-saving resource. It can replace the many phone calls and
postal mailings, adding a financial benefit to the smaller
clinic.
Does email eliminate the office visit? No nothing can replace
the personal face-to-face office visit, but email can be an
additional tool clinicians can implement to streamline their
practice.
Some healthcare practitioners do however feel that emailing
their patients equates to working for free, but some clinics
have already adopted charging for email consultations.
At some practices, patients pay a flat rate from $100 to several
hundred dollars per year for this type of service. Harvard
professor of medicine Dr. Daniel Z Sands, a proponent to a
digital clinic, stated "I think it's reasonable to assume that
if lawyers and accountants charge for time, then physicians
should too. (1)"
Sustainability of Health Information Technology is also on the
government's radar. As part of the President's mandate to move
the medical field towards a digital clinical setting within the
next ten years (2). The National Coordinator for Health IT, Dr.
David Brailer, noted the value-added benefit of investing in
Healthcare IT:
Information technology supports treatment choices for consumers
and enables better and more cost-effective care... Health IT not
only adds value to the way people lead their lives, but it gets
more out of our investment in healthcare overall. (3)
It is possible for clinics to shift towards a digital medical
office while remaining financially solid. Rights management
software tools have become a reality for the small and medium
business office (4). Small Business Rights Management (SBRM)
reflects a shift Rights Management software tools.
SBRM solutions provide clinics and practices of a smaller scale
an equal level of user rights management and encryption
previously available to larger medical organizations (e.g. state
hospitals, large research facilities, university medical
networks, etc.).
With any medical advance, the side affects of a solution or
cure, must also be considered. While email is beneficial
time-wise and financially, there are also cons to using this
tool - many HIPAA related. According to the Health Privacy
Project's 2005 study, 70% of Americans are concerned that
personal health information (PHI) could be disclosed as a result
of weak data security (5)
Currently, healthcare organizations are required to provide a
disclosure statement when communication is sent to their
patients. A sample of a healthcare professional's email
disclosure statement may read like this:
Client information gathered by [Clinic or Organization's Name]
is protected by Federal Law. If this communication contains any
client information, including information which would identify a
client, you are prohibited from redisclosing it to any person or
organization in any manner, and you are required to maintain it
as confidential. Failure to do so is punishable by civil and
criminal penalties. If such information has reached you in
error, please contact [Clinic or Organization's Name]
contact@emailaddress.com
With the advent of phishing, malware, and spyware, the
unintended recipient could possibly spread a patients PHI like a
virus; using or selling data to any number of damaging sites.
Protecting a patient's PHI is an ingrained concept within the
medical profession. Laws and government mandates are take this
notion a step further, medical facilities not compliant to
protecting their patient's PHI face stiff penalties under HIPAA.
PHI includes and is not limited to:
* Patient's address, phone number
* Treating Hospital/Clinic number assigned the patient
* Patient's date of birth/ SSN
* Patients legal next of kin/guardian and their telephone number
* Patient's insurance information (pre-certification/ DSHS/
Medicare)
* Anticipated Admission date and time<
While there are some drawbacks to email, patients want the
option of emailing their doctor, pharmacist, therapist or
clinic. "People are often more comfortable talking to a computer
than they are to a doctor," said Dr. Delbanco, a professor of
medicine at the Harvard Medical School and the lead author of an
article on doctors and e-mail in the New England Journal of
Medicine (6).
Dealing with HIPAA compliance issues can often be frustrating to
the small clinical practice. SBRM solutions bridge the gap
between staying current with healthcare industry regulations and
keeping a small physician practice open. Patient/client
information, private communiqué regarding diagnosis/treatment,
and medical billing can stay discreet, only the intended
recipient will see this information.
With SBRM solutions; clinics don't have to worry that their
email content breaks the Hippocratic Oath's creed of
confidentiality by revealing patient's PHI. Healthcare providers
can remain both respectful and compliant under HIPAA regarding
the patient privacy.
- - - - - - - - - -
End Notes:
1.) Dr. Daniel Z. Sands as quoted in Liz Kowalczyk's article "Is
E-Mailing the Future of Doctor-Patient Relations?" The Boston
Globe, D2, April 27, 2004, Lexis Nexus -
http://www.lexisnexus.com
2.) United States Department of Health and Human Services,
"Secretary Leavitt Takes New Steps to Advance Health IT," Press
Release on HHS website, June 6, 2005, http://www.os.dhhs.gov/
3.) "Remarks by David Brailer, MD PhD National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology HIMSS 2005" February 17, 2005,
http://www.himss.org
4.) SBRM on Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Business_Rights_Management
5.) "Majority of Americans Have Privacy Concerns about
Electronic Medical Record System," Health Privacy Project
(www.heathprivacy.org):
http://www.healthprivacy.org/info-url_nocat2303/info-url_nocat_sh
ow.htm?doc_id=263085
6.) Anahad O'Connor, "Take Two Aspirin, E-Mail Me Tomorrow," The
New York Times, Section F; Column 5; Health & Fitness; 7., 30
September 2005, Lexis Nexis - http://www.lexisnexus.com
About the author:
Ms. Veniegas is an alumni of the University of
Washington Marilee joined the Marketing team at Essential Security Software, Inc. in 2005.
She also serves as one of the ESS site editors for "I Want My
ESS!"
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| Keywords: Medical Claim medical practice specialty, -, smaller medical practice, health information, medical, - -, information, rights management, clinic and medical, Medical Claim |
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