Category: Uncategorized

Summer 2020 OCR Cybersecurity Newsletter

Summer 2020 OCR Cybersecurity Newsletter

August 25, 2020 Making a List and Checking it Twice: HIPAA and IT Asset Inventories The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all electronic protected health information (ePHI) that it creates, receives, maintains, or transmits.1 Conducting a risk analysis, which is an accurate and […]

HHS officially renews public health emergency for COVID-19

HHS officially renews public health emergency for COVID-19

July 23, 2020 RACHEL COHRS HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday officially extended the COVID-19 public health emergency designation for another 90 days. Significant funding and regulatory relief for hospitals and other healthcare providers are tied to the emergency, which was set to expire on July 25. Lobbyists and healthcare industry players were concerned that […]

Provider-relief grant-spending reports due in February 2021

Provider-relief grant-spending reports due in February 2021

July 22, 2020 RACHEL COHRS  Healthcare providers will be required to account for how they spent COVID-19 relief grants by February 2021, HHS quietly announced on Monday. When lawmakers established the $175 billion Provider Relief Fund, one of the stipulations was that healthcare providers receiving large grants would have to submit quarterly reports to HHS […]

OCR Issues Guidance on Civil Rights Protections Prohibiting Race, Color, and National Origin Discrimination During COVID-19

OCR Issues Guidance on Civil Rights Protections Prohibiting Race, Color, and National Origin Discrimination During COVID-19

July 20, 2020 Today, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing guidance to ensure that recipients of federal financial assistance understand that they must comply with applicable federal civil rights laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national […]

HHS To Begin Distributing $10 Billion in Additional Funding to Hospitals in High Impact COVID-19 Areas

HHS To Begin Distributing $10 Billion in Additional Funding to Hospitals in High Impact COVID-19 Areas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 17, 2020 Contact: HHS Press Office 202-690-6343 media@hhs.gov HHS To Begin Distributing $10 Billion in Additional Funding to Hospitals in High Impact COVID-19 Areas Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is announcing it will begin distributing $10 billion in a […]

Some states cement COVID-19 telehealth expansions

Some states cement COVID-19 telehealth expansions

July 08, 2020 SHELBY LIVINGSTON  Some states that expanded telehealth access and coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic are moving to make those changes permanent. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Monday that expands telehealth access by barring insurers from requiring that patients have a pre-established relationship with a virtual care provider or imposing […]

CMS: Permanent telehealth changes coming to home health

CMS: Permanent telehealth changes coming to home health

June 25, 2020 MICHAEL BRADY CMS wants to make permanent changes to telehealth flexibilities for home health providers, the agency said Thursday. The Trump administration loosened telehealth restrictions for home health providers during the COVID-19 pandemic but now wants them to go beyond the public health emergency. According to the proposed rule, CMS is looking […]

Hospitals lose HHS lawsuit over price transparency

Hospitals lose HHS lawsuit over price transparency

June 23, 2020 MICHAEL BRADY   A federal judge sided with the Trump administration Tuesday, saying that HHS can force hospitals to reveal the prices they negotiate with insurers. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington D.C. wrote that HHS had the right to issue the rule because it considered the concerns of providers and payers, acknowledged conflicting information […]

Telehealth explosion points to need for more research on quality of care provided

Telehealth explosion points to need for more research on quality of care provided

June 18, 2020 02:57 PM MARIA CASTELLUCCI As telehealth adoption takes off in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, quality analysts and health systems claim much is still unknown about the quality of these virtual visits. Telehealth is often touted for its ability to improve access to care and lower healthcare spending, but those assertions haven’t […]

COVID-19 reshapes healthcare utilization

COVID-19 reshapes healthcare utilization

June 10, 2020 ALEX KACIK Healthcare professional services utilization dropped by nearly 70% in April year over year, resulting in a 50% decline in revenue, according to Fair Health’s new analysis of 31 billion commercial claims. COVID-19 hit the Northeast the hardest as utilization of professional services—defined as any service provided by a practitioner instead of being billed […]