HHS Puts Industry on Notice: OCR is Serious About HIPAA Enforcement

Posted by Jason Greis on March 2, 2011 under Articles | Be the First to Comment

On Feb. 22, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had issued a civil money penalty (CMP) of $4.3 million against Cignet Health of Prince George’s County, MD., the first imposition of a CMP by OCR for a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Two days later, HHS announced that General Hospital Corporation and Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, Inc., collectively referred to as Mass General, agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Read More...

CMS Rule Expands Long-Term Care Facility Administrators’ Responsibility to Report Facility Closures

Posted by Jason Greis on under Articles | Be the First to Comment

On February 18, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule (Interim Rule) implementing Section 6113 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  The Interim Rule, which becomes effective March 23, 2011, requires administrators of long-term care facilities (LTCF), including skilled nursing facilities (SNF) eligible for reimbursement under Medicare and nursing facilities (NF) eligible for reimbursement under Medicaid, to submit prior written notification of an impending LTCF closure to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary), the state’s long-term care ombudsman and residents of the facility and their legal representatives or other responsible parties.  LTCF administrators that do not comply with the new notice requirements may face sanctions, including civil monetary penalties of up to $100,000 and exclusion from participation in Federal health care programs.  In addition, LTCFs must have related policies in place to avoid being cited for survey deficiencies. Read More...