Health IT Law Group

Notice of Breach

Did you know that

You may not have to give notice every time you have a breach.
Computer forensics may enable you to prove whether or not you have experienced a breach.
You have to do a 'risk of harm' assessment after a breach.

Contracting for EHR

Did you know that

Your Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement will be reduced if you haven't achieved "Meaningful Use" by 2015.
You may not need a sophisticated or expensive system to meet the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' requirements for "Meaningful Use."

Healthcare Legislation

Did you know that

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act brought radical changes to the government's HIT programs.
The federal government is promoting the use of Electronic Health Records to collect health data, reduce medical errors and enhance healthcare.

Health IT Law Group is uniquely qualified to advise you on health IT matters. Our attorneys understand the business of healthcare. We have extensive hands-on experience in all facets of healthcare operations and regulation, from provider, payor, and software vendor perspectives.

Health IT Law Group has a proactive focus on healthcare technology transactions. We support our clients in IT contract negotiations and help them avoid common contracting pitfalls.

We foster client awareness of health IT issues. Health IT Law Group offers talks and updates on compliance options and will discuss changing legal requirements for healthcare organizations. Health IT Law Group helps smooth the way and ease the transition for small and mid-size companies acquiring or promoting new technology.

News of Interest

New California Law Expands Telehealth Services

A new California law will allow an expansion of telehealth services by updating California's 1996 Telemedicine Development Act. The new law (AB 415), signed into law in early October, will provide a broader range of services, include all licensed health professionals as providers of telehealth services, create telehealth for more outpatient settings, and make it easier for hospitals to credential telehealth providers. The new law increases healthcare services in rural and underserved areas.

Telehealth has been expanding in recent months with the inaugeration of the California Telehealth Network (CTN), which is anticipated to be the largest telehealth network in the nation. The network is the result of a $30 million joint funding from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), the California HealthCare Foundation, UnitedHealthcare, the National Coalition for Healthcare Integration, the University of California, with additional funds from private groups.

Fifteen community groups across California have been awarded more than $5 million through the California e-Health Community Awards to adopt telehealth technology for the rural areas.

Along with the eHealth Community Awards is the introduction of an online training program designed to support the transition to technology-enabled health and healthcare. The new online program, accessed through the eHealth Broadband Adoption Training website offers courses in: California Telehealth Network Orientation, Broadband Adoption, Telehealth, Consumer and Clinical Health Informatics, Electronic Health Records/Health Information Exchange Adoption, and Change Management.

The Website for the training program is: http://ehealthtraining.extensiondlc.net

Grants Available from $100 Million Health Care Investment Fund

Gary and Mary West, of Ranch Santa Fe. California announced the launch of the West Health Investment Fund, which will provide money to companies with cutting-edge health-care technologies and services. The goal is to create investment funding focused specifically on lowering the cost of health care. The couple previously donated $90 million to establish the West Wireless Health Institute, a nonprofit organization located in La Jolla, California.

Investments, will range from $500,000 and $5 million and will go to companies in the early stages of developing products and services that can improve health care and reducing costs. The new fund already has awarded grants to six technology companies. The companies receiving grants include: California’s Biological Dynamics, which is developing a technology that uses electrical current to separate DNA from cancer cells from other molecules in a blood samples. This could lead to early cancer-detection blood tests. Also, Sotera Wireless, which is developing a wristwatch-sized monitor that can transmit patient information via a Wi-Fi network.

The fund is being managed by Donald Casey, chief executive of the West Wireless Health Institute. For more information about the fund, see:

http://www.westhealthfund.com

Health Reform Operating Rules: What Does the Future Hold?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), Section 1104, mandates that the Secretary, Health and Human Services adopt and regularly update standards, implementation specifications, and operating rules for the electronic exchange and use of health information for the purposes of financial and administrative transactions.

The standards, implementation specifications, and operating rules must include:

Requiring minimal augmentation by paper transactions or clarifications by phone calls;
Enabling the real time determination of a patient’s financial responsibility prior to and at the point of service;
Providing for timely acknowledgement and status of claims that promotes transparency in the claims and appeals process; and
Ensuring that all data elements within a standard, specification, or criteria be described in unambiguous terms.

Health plans will be required to file a statement with HHS showing compliance.

The deadlines are looming. Eligibility verification and claims status operating rules must be adopted by July 1, 2011, and be effective by January 1, 2013. Claims remittance/payment, and electronic funds transfer operating rules must be adopted by July 1, 2012, and be effective by January 1, 2014. Other operating rules (e.g., health claims, enrollment and disenrollment., premium payments, and referral authorizations) must be adopted by July 1, 2014, and be effective by January 1, 2016.