Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/41086
HIPAA Activity on the Rise By Joy Kosiewicz T HERE ARE PLENTY of reasons to put HIPAA back on your radar, including an audit program and record-setting fi nes for violations. HIPAA Audit Program The HIPAA audit program mandated by the HITECH Act is underway. HHS recently awarded KPMG $9.2 million to commence the program. To date, HHS review of covered entities has been complaint driven. Audit protocols will be developed for covered entities and business associates. The audits will begin late this year or early 2012, and consist of as many as 150 on-site audits of entities varying in type, size, and location. These audits can result in enforcement action if violations are discovered. To get prepared for a HIPAA audit, providers should perform an updated risk assessment and review their policies and procedures. HHS issued an audit checklist that identifies personnel who may be interviewed and documents that may be requested during an audit. Accounting of Disclosures and Access Report The long-anticipated rules regarding accounting of disclosures were proposed this May. There are two major changes covered entities and business associates will need to address: 1) accounting for treatment, payment, and health care operations disclosures, and 2) providing an access report. Accounting for Disclosures While the proposed rules broaden the accounting requirement to treatment, payment, and hea l th ca re oper a t ions , HHS proposes to limit the accounting to information maintained in a designated record set for three years prior to the date of the request. There are also proposed exemptions, including, disclosures in which breach notice was provided; abuse or neglect reports; patient safety work product, and disclosures for research, health oversight activities, decedents, and others required by law. Keep in mind these exemptions may still be subject to the Access Report. Other proposed changes include decreasing response time to 30 days and specifically including business associates. Local Docs in National News John Bergfeld, MD, Senior John Bergfeld, MD Orthopaedic Surgeon and director of Operating Rooms at Cleveland Clinic was named the recipient of the 2011 Thomas A. Brady Community Service Award by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). He received the award at the AOSSM annual meeting in San Diego on July 8. During the past four decades, Dr. Bergfeld arranged for certified athletic trainers and physicians to attend various Cleveland Metropolitan School District athletic events. He also developed and continues to host the Athletic Champions Recognition Dinner, an annual awards ceremony for outstanding teams and athletes in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Senate Athletic League. The ceremony includes the presentation of a scholarship he and his wife Wilma Bergfeld, MD, endowed. 50 | Cleveland-Akron-Canton MD NEWS MDNEWS.COM SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011 Dr. Bergfeld's career achievements include 34 years as Director of Sports Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and a combined 48 seasons as head team physician for the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers. He remains active in professional sports as a consultant surgeon for the Browns and Cavaliers and is also the team physician for Baldwin-Wallace College. In 2009, AOSSM honored Dr. Bergfeld with the "Mr. Sports Medicine" award and elected him to its Hall of Fame. His leadership at AOSSM includes terms as President and as a mem- ber on the Board of Directors. Patrick Catalano, MD, direc- Patrick Catalano, MD tor of MetroHealth's Center for Reproductive Health and director of the center's Clinical Research Unit at MetroHealth and Case Western Reserve University, has