“For more than a year, the AHA has been telling the Office for Civil Rights that its ‘Online Tracking Bulletin’ was both unlawful and harmful to patients and communities. We regret that we were forced to sue OCR, but we are pleased that the Court today agreed with the AHA and held that OCR does not have ‘interpretive carte blanche to justify whatever it wants irrespective of violence to HIPAA’s text.’ As a result of today’s decision, hospitals and health systems will again be able to rely on these important technologies to provide their communities with reliable, accurate health care information,” said Chad Golder, AHA General Counsel regarding a recent District Court ruling. https://ow.ly/AM9H50SohgZ
American Hospital Association’s Post
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Judge rules in favor of AHA vacating HHS online tracking ‘bulletin’ as unlawful and beyond agency authority Many people may recall the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS’) guidance on the use of pixels and online tracking technologies on HIPAA-covered entity websites, like hospitals and healthcare orgs (HHS has actually issued at least 3 separate guidance pieces on this topic, in 2022, 2023 and 2024). You may also recall that in November 2023, the American Hospital Association (AHA) filed a lawsuit challenging HHS’ authority to make such a rule, as well as the process HHS followed. Last week, a federal judge in Texas issued an opinion and order vacating the part of HHS/OCR’s guidance restricting a CE’s use of online tracking technologies on unauthenticated public webpages (“UPWs”). Of course, the reality of the matter is that this is still only a lower court decision, and not yet definitive precedent; not to mention that this decision can be appealed, stayed, etc. So while everyone should consult their own legal counsel, it would appear that the option of least risk – at least at the moment - is for covered entities to continue avoiding using tracking technologies and analytic tools on any of their public webpages, to the extent that there is the potential for collection of PHI on those pages. Finally, FWIW, one paragraph in the TX decision that I personally found especially interesting - because it specifically identified situations where even the TX court would agree that a visitor to a UPW would be deemed to be disclosing IIHI (and thus be engaged in a HIPAA-covered disclosure) - was as follows: "If a covered entity’s UPW greets visitors with a dropdown box requesting their subjective motive for visiting the page, that would be one thing. The Department can and should remind covered entities that the Privacy Rule would apply in those circumstances. But absent such an admittedly bizarre scenario, the Proscribed Combination cannot become IIHI as unambiguously defined." (p. 25). #meta #pixels #HHS #HIPAA #hospitals #PHI #protectedhealthinformation https://lnkd.in/e8GEesMk
Judge rules in favor of AHA vacating HHS online tracking ‘bulletin’ as unlawful and beyond agency authority | AHA News
aha.org
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Healthcare Privacy and Cybersecurity Lawyer, Partner, Chicago Leader - Digital Assets & Data Management Practice Group at BakerHostetler
Feeling EXTREMELY vindicated. Today the court presiding over AHA v. Bacerra - the one where the healthcare industry joined together to fight OCR's #trackingtechnology guidance - issued its order, and not only was it an absolute joy to read, the judge nailed it. "The Court GRANTS the Hospitals’ request for declaratory judgment and DECLARES that the Proscribed Combination [IP address + visit to unauthenticated hospital website], as set forth in the HHS Bulletin of March 18, 2024, is UNLAWFUL, as it was promulgated in clear excess of HHS’s authority under HIPAA. .....While the Court DENIES the Hospitals’ request for a permanent injunction, it GRANTS their request for vacatur and ORDERS that the Proscribed Combination be VACATED." CC: my BakerHostetler Pixel Queens Stefanie Ferrari, Lynn Sessions, Courtney L. Litchfield, and Roma Gujarathi I love that the court acknowledged that we weren't out there "advocating for [hospitals'] right to disclose" sensitive information, and that "HIPAA compliance is woven deep into hospital operations, with implications for every way in which hospitals interact with patients or patients’ medical information." And that, "[i]f enforced, the Proscribed Combination would have a profound chilling effect on providers’ use of technology vendors to facilitate critical UPWs. While healthcare providers can 'host websites and patient portals without using any third-party analytics . . . it serves nobody to have websites that patients do not know and cannot navigate effectively.'” I will be blogging about how this impacts HIPAA covered entity's decisions on tracking technologies and the remaining legal risks shortly, and am linking my prior blog posts on this issue in the comments. But as someone whose writing on this issue has been called "spicy", I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of my favorite lines in the decision - #gamerecognizesgame. *In a last-ditch effort to evade review, HHS argues the Revised Bulletin “is not sufficiently concrete to constitute the consummation of the agency’s decisionmaking.” . . . But numerous cases have held that guidance documents can’t escape review merely because they’re poorly written. *As a whole, these signs point to one conclusion: HHS tried to tweak the IIHI definition and got caught. With its hand in the cookie jar, the Department now backtracks. In doing so, it gaslights covered entities by arguing the Bulletins restate what the rule has been all along. *The Department’s third argument fails because it’s wrong. Even if an OCR investigation and enforcement action would be required for legal consequences, that fact does not rob the Revised Bulletin of legal effect... An ordinance banning skateboards in the park doesn’t become law only when a joyriding perp is apprehended. Much to Texans’ chagrin, speed limits are still speed limits long before blue lights flash.
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Proven leader in OP Clinical Documentation with a unique skill set including: practice management, provider credentialing and education, and EHR implementation. I am not afraid of hard work and making things right.
During Patient ID Week (May 13-17), we are spotlighting the urgent need for improved standards and transparency when it comes to patient information. By supporting the MATCH IT Act, we're taking a significant step towards addressing this critical issue. The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Representatives Mike Kelly and Bill Foster, will establish an industry standard definition for the term “patient match rate” and standardize how demographic elements are entered into the patient record. These improvements will help to ensure patients are accurately matched to their medical record. Join us in partnership with the Patient ID Now coalition in advocating for the MATCH IT Act by visiting our Action Center and contacting your legislators. Together, we can create a healthcare system that prioritizes health information accuracy and patient privacy. Take action here: https://lnkd.in/gYi9fAqF #AHIMA #patientIDnow
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In the last few months of 2023, there has been a flurry of legal activity pertaining to the use, disclosure, and protection of health information. Here is a summary of the latest legal initiatives impacting New York providers. Garfunkel Wild, P.C.'s Stacey Gulick discusses the impact in detail here: #garfunkelwild #hipaa #phi
Garfunkel Wild Alert - Flurry of Activity Around Patient Information Impacting New York Providers
garfunkelwild.com
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The Power of EHR! Patients are starting to see the importance of having 24/7 access to their health records.
Without Electronic Health Records (EHR), the patient's request for a password reset would have likely involved a more cumbersome and time-consuming process. The patient might have had to provide extensive information over the phone or through traditional mail, leading to delays in accessing medical care. Additionally, without instant access to up-to-date records, the doctor might not have had the most recent patient information, potentially compromising the quality and speed of care provided.
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We are sharing an upcoming learning opportunity for health care professionals from Futures Without Violence, "Leveraging Electronic Health Records to Promote Improved Care, Patient Safety and Privacy," happening next week. How and what you document about patients who have experienced intimate partner violence can profoundly impact their safety and wellbeing. Check out the post to learn more about the event and to register. #continuingeducation #intimatepartnerviolence #privacy #healthcareprofessionals
Healthcare workers: What do you need to know about electronic health records and requesting consent from survivors during documentation before conducting any data sharing on referral platforms? What are best practices to ensure patient privacy and safety while adhering to CURES Act regulations? Join our webinar: Leveraging Electronic Health Records to Promote Improved Care, Patient Safety and Privacy Date: July 25 Time: 11am PT / 12pm MT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET (60 minutes) Register Here: https://lnkd.in/e7fSPRbD
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As Patient ID Week comes to a close, we'll continue working with the Patient ID Now Coalition to raise awareness of the issues around patient matching and the harm to patient safety, privacy and costs created by patient misidentification. We urge you to support H.R.7379, the Patient Matching and Transparency in Certified Health IT (MATCH IT) Act of 2024 to improve patient matching while promoting increased patient privacy and safety. Join us in spreading the word and ask your members of Congress to cosponsor this essential legislation. https://bit.ly/3WJplm3 #patientIDnow
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Take Action During Patient ID Week! Patient misidentification isn't just a hassle—it jeopardizes patient safety, privacy, and inflates healthcare costs. Join us throughout Patient ID Week (May 13-17) as we raise awareness about the challenges of patient misidentification and advocating for the MATCH IT Act, a recently introduced piece of legislation designed to improve standards and transparency when it comes to health information (HI). Together, we can work together to build a healthcare system that prioritizes HI accuracy, patient well-being, and makes sure that every patient receives the care they deserve. Take Action Now: https://lnkd.in/eBSnyF4T. #PatientIDWeek #MATCHITAct
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Access over 470 critical care questions with #CHESTSEEK that can help advance your clinical knowledge and improve problem-solving skills. https://hubs.la/Q02wqnxy0
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Orthopedic surgeon | Pioneer of insurance free and mobile orthopedic care | Antagonist of health insurance and large hospital conglomerates | Founder and CEO of Easy Orthopedics
"How are your google reviews?". Ask this to a physician and you are likely to get one of three responses: 1. "They are great" 2. "There are a few unhappy patients that bombed my score. What a miserable system" 3. "I don't know" Some of your patients are going to find you on google, so having a bad score can be detrimental. Usually it happens when a doc pays no attention to their google reviews, and then a few unhappy patients give their opinion. This is bad for business. If you are a physician, first make sure that the hospital didn't take your google profile (they often do). If they did then petition to get it back. Second, if the patient likes you, send them an email with a link to review or have them scan a QR code. This will get you some good reviews, so the bad ones don't hurt your score. But You also do want some negative reviews. A 5.0 perfect score with 100+ reviews is not believable. But a 4.8 with a few 1 star reviews is. You want to make sure that the 1 star reviews have nothing to do with your actual medical care. They can be for scheduling etc. Up to you how you want to respond to them. Just make sure that you don't violate HIPAA. If the patient was especially rude to us then we will mention their behavior in the response to the review. The patient may think that they are harming you, but they are actually helping you! #googlereviews #healthcare #medicine
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ONLINE SURVEY PROGRAMMER| WEBSITE DESIGNER AND DEVELOPER
1moMy name is Sadiku Ayomide and I specialize in creating custom online surveys tailored for healthcare provider. Understanding patient satisfaction and gathering valuable feedback are crucial for improving healthcare services. I offer specialized online survey programming services that help healthcare providers efficiently collect, analyze, and act on patient feedback. With my services, you can: ✓Design user-friendly surveys that encourage higher response rates ✓Customize surveys to meet specific needs, such as patient satisfaction, clinical trials, or health assessments ✓Easily analyze data to uncover actionable insights for improving patient care ✓Ensure data security and compliance with healthcare regulations Here's a link to an example of the online form I designed: https://form.jotform.com/241934066872059 It is not limited to this as you can add more potential questions and you can state the design guidelines you prefer. I would love to discuss how my services can benefit [Healthcare Provider's Name]. Are you available for a brief call to explore this further? Looking forward to your response. Best regards, Sadiku Ayomide Online survey programmer