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HealthMart 2003
Quality Improvement Initiatives Conference
"Making the Business Case for Quality Improvement: Perspectives of Employees, Employers, Providers, Government, and Health Insurers"
Overview | Agenda | Workshops | Exhibitors | Sponsorship Opportunities
Session Descriptions: Keynote Address | Meet-the-Experts | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4 | Investing in Information Awards
Session 3 Description:
HIPAA Panel to Address Implementation in Wake of Oct. 16 Deadline |
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With HealthMart 2003 coming on the heels of the October 16 deadline for compliance with HIPAA transactions and code sets, the "HIPAA Community Solutions Update" panel will focus part of its discussion on how the pieces fell together -- or apart - following the deadline, according to moderator Keith Van de Castle, MD, MBA, MPH, Medical Director of PatientEDU.
"HIPAA is the Number 1 issue affecting health care this year, by anybody's standards," he said.
Panelist Natalie Cunningham, Director of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's HIPAA Program Office, will discuss transactions and code sets in a presentation based on lessons learned in the nine days between the HIPAA deadline and the HealthMart 2003 conference. Debbie Mikels, Corporate Manager of Confidentiality for Partners HealthCare System, will discuss efforts to date of privacy officers and Deb Stevens, Security Officer for Tufts Health Plan, will address the security regulation's 2005 deadline.
Dr. Van de Castle described a "train wreck philosophy" that has circulated ahead of the transactions and code sets deadline. "Even if you're on board with code sets, if any of your partners are not, you'll get left behind," according to some stakeholders, he said.
Most physicians across the country will not be ready with transactions and code sets by October 16, said Dr. Van de Castle, citing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, he said that Boston is well ahead of the national curve.
Cunningham will also look at "where do we go from here," according to Dr. Van de Castle.
Mikels will talk about lessons learned in implementing privacy regulations at Partners, with a discussion of successful strategies as well as ongoing challenges, while Stevens will offer a discussion of Tufts Health Plan's overall security plan, of which HIPAA makes up a small part.
Dr. Van de Castle's perspective comes from traveling around the country talking about HIPAA and finding that "everyone has a different interpretation."
He has seen frustration among people who can no longer get information that used to be readily available. For example, a physician might not be able to get information about a patient who has been referred to him due to a particular interpretation of the Privacy standard.
"We plan to present a completely frank, up-to-the minute discussion of the issues," said Dr. Van de Castle.
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