Wednesday, April 28, 2004

The State of HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance
A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, from the American Health Information Management Association, available online at the Open Minds web site - " April 14, 2004, will mark the first anniversary of the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) final privacy rule. This long-awaited regulation represented a critical step in the development of national standards for the use and disclosure of personal health information. Many in the healthcare industry, including the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), supported its development and recognized its importance in protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of health information. But even before it took effect, the HIPAA privacy rule created concern within the healthcare industry regarding implementation and compliance. So where does the industry stand with HIPAA now—one year after implementation? To find out, AHIMA conducted a survey to assess the current state of HIPAA privacy within the healthcare industry. AHIMA asked the people closest to this issue—the individuals working on the planning, training, and ongoing compliance of HIPAA privacy regulations primarily in hospitals and health systems—to give us their feedback...."  
  

Communicating with Your Patients Online
Article from Family Practice Management at Medscape that focuses on medical practices, but effectively outlines the current options for Internet use in patient communication - "Although health care has generally lagged behind in the Internet revolution, there has been growing interest in providing online health care ever since the American Medical Informatics Association released its guidelines for e-mail with patients in 1998. The Internet has an abundance of health-care-related Web sites of varying quality, but relatively few patients are receiving health care from their personal physicians online. Physicians cite reimbursement concerns, time demands and privacy issues as barriers to going online with their patients. While these problems are real, they're also manageable, and they need to be weighed against the potential benefits of online communication - increased practice efficiency, lower overhead, and increased quality of care and satisfaction for the patient..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

For Most SSRIs, Risks Outweigh Benefits in Children
Medscape Medical News story - "Except for fluoxetine, the risks of most selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) outweigh the benefits in children, according to the results of a meta-analysis of unpublished as well as published data, reported in the April 24 issue of The Lancet." "med"  
  

Faces of Medicaid
A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured that "...profiles Medicaid’s role for the low-income population in providing basic health insurance, particularly for children; in supporting services that enable people with disabilities to function and be independent; and in filling gaps in Medicare for seniors, including prescription drugs and long-term care."  
  

The Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program: Implications for Low-income Medicare Beneficiaries
This "Issue Paper," in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured describes the discount card and low-income assistance programs and discusses their implications for low-income Medicare beneficiaries and state Medicaid programs.  
  

Race training for all mental health staff (UK)
Story at The Guardian - "All NHS psychiatrists and mental health nurses are to be put through a national retraining programme to root out the racist attitudes that have undermined the treatment of black and ethnic minority patients, it was disclosed yesterday. Ministers have accepted a recommendation of the inquiry into the death of David 'Rocky' Bennett that training the 40,000-strong mental health workforce in 'cultural competence' should become a priority for the service."  
  

Health Net sued in Californoia over mental health plan
Forbes article - "A California consumer group has filed a "private attorney general" lawsuit against Health Net Inc. to force the managed care provider to expand its coverage of mental illnesses. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, is believed to be the first test of the state's 1999 Mental Health Parity Law requiring health plans to provide the same coverage for mental health conditions as for general health conditions. The California law, which requires the same co-payments and access to coverage for mental health as for general health complaints, is stricter than federal law..." See also 'Bait and Switch' Alleged at Health Net in the Los Angeles Times. [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].