Compliance

Discovery is committed to the operating premise that HIPAA and HITECH Act compliance and protecting the confidentiality of Protected Health Information (PHI) and patient health records is non-negotiable. In order to achieve that goal, we fulfill medical record requests and manage the Release of Information (ROI) process at every step with strict adherence to established regulatory requirements, industry best practices including those advocated by AHIOS, and Discovery’s internally developed quality control process and standards. In addition we require that all employees receive annual HIPAA training and utilize the AHIOS Institute to certify field managers, supervisors and medial record specialists.

Here are quick links to relevant compliance web sites and the AHIOS Institute:

HIPAA

The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, Title II) require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health plans, and employers. To date, the implementation of HIPAA standards has increased the use of electronic data interchange. Provisions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-152) (collectively, the "Affordable Care Act" or ACA) will further these increases. The ACA includes requirements to adopt:

• operating rules for each of the HIPAA transactions
• a unique, standard Health Plan Identifier (HPID)
• a standard for electronic funds transfer (EFT) and electronic health care claims attachments.

In addition, health plans will be required to certify their compliance with the adopted standards and operating rules. The Act provides for substantial penalties for failures to certify and comply with the new standards and operating rules.

Learn more… http://www.cms.gov/HIPAAGenInfo/

HITECH Act

On April 17, 2009, HHS issued guidance specifying the technologies and methodologies that render protected health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  This guidance was developed through a joint effort by OCR, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Learn more…https://www.cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms/

Meaningful Use

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs provide a financial incentive for the "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology to achieve health and efficiency goals. By putting into action and meaningfully using an EHR system, providers will reap benefits beyond financial incentives–such as reduction in errors, availability of records and data, reminders and alerts, clinical decision support, and e-prescribing/refill automation.

Learn more… https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/30_Meaningful_Use.asp

AHIOS and the AHIOS Institute

The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services (AHIOS) was created in 1996 to increase awareness of the value of health information management service providers and the importance and complexity of the services they provide.

Since our inception, we have worked tirelessly to establish standards of excellence for the release of information (ROI) process in particular, advocated for fair and equitable compensation for ROI services, and created educational and networking opportunities for our members.

Learn more… http://www.ahios.org/index.php

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