HIPAA and Compliance are now more important than ever …
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For many years, the federal government encouraged healthcare organizations to implement voluntary compliance plans.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance to several types of healthcare providers, including:
- hospitals
- clinical laboratories
- home health agencies
- DME suppliers
- third party billing companies
- hospices
- Medicare Advantage plans
- nursing homes
- physicians
Now, with the passage of the recent Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010, there is a new urgency for healthcare organizations to develop and implement compliance program policies and procedures. PPACA will require healthcare providers applying to enroll as Medicare providers to have a compliance program in place.
Beyond this requirement are the on-going efforts of federal and state governments to decrease the fraud and abuse that plagues government-sponsored healthcare programs. An effective healthcare compliance program can help an organization spot errors in its processes, and prevent small problems before they become large ones, especially in the area of billing to government healthcare programs.
There are many other dimensions of “compliance” for healthcare organizations, including:
- compliance with health and safety laws and regulations
- compliance with environmental laws and regulations
- compliance with human resources laws and regulations
- compliance with HIPAA laws and regulations
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, requires healthcare organizations to comply with a host of regulations covering the privacy of personal health information (PHI). These requirements have only increased with adoption of the HITECH Act provisions of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) early in 2009.
Healthcare Compliance Consulting Services
The Fox Group’s healthcare compliance consultants offer a wide range of services, from developing and helping clients implement compliance program policies and procedures to conducting coding and documentation audits, to completing operational assessments designed to identify high risk areas. You can learn more about them by visiting these pages:
