Featured Articles

3 Strategies for Virtual HIM Departments: From Reaction to Reality May 16, 2022 Journal of AHIMAOver the past two years, hospital departments, including health information management (HIM) departments, have been forced to restructure their operations using remote or...

The Patient Right of Access Rule and a Look at Enforcement Actions April 7, 2022 Healthcare IT TodayNew government regulations never stop in healthcare.  It’s just the nature of the business and that’s unlikely to change.  However, the reality of this is that some...

Revenue Integrity: How to Reduce Costs and Retain Revenue April 4, 2022 Journal of AHIMAAs the world prepares to navigate year three of COVID-19, the impact of the pandemic continues to touch every facet of healthcare. For health information (HI) professionals,...

Patient Right of Access and the Path to Compliance January 21, 2022 For The RecordHIM professionals play an increasingly critical role in privacy and security, release of information (ROI), protected health information (PHI), disclosure management, interoperability,...

What Does it Mean to be #CyberSmart? October 6, 2021 Health IT AnswersCyber safety begins with good cyber hygiene. All internet-connected devices are possible entry points for a cybercriminal. And the need for diligence increases exponentially as the volume of...

When the Police Come Knocking October, 2021 For The Recordby Selena Chavis  For many years, the health care industry has been well versed in the parameters of sharing protected health information (PHI) with law enforcement. But even with the best training, HIM...

Patient Access and the Path to Compliance August 18, 2021 Compliance CosmosThe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule generally requires HIPAA covered entities—health plans and most healthcare providers—to provide individuals, upon...

Preparing for HIPAA Changes in IT, HIM, Compliance and Privacy May 28, 2021 HIMSS TVRita Bowen, vice president of privacy, compliance and HIM policy at MRO, a clinical data workflow solutions company, discusses how proposed new rules can impact healthcare provider...

Enterprise-wide PHI Disclosure Management: What Risk Managers Need to Know May 26, 2021 Journal of Health Care ComplianceManaging demands for secure disclosure of protected health information (PHI) has become more complex as each department within a health care...

Building New Policies and Procedures to Incorporate Telehealth May 12, 2021 Journal of AHIMA Over the past year, telehealth has expanded through support from federal and state measures intended to increase access during the pandemic. In February 2021, a bipartisan...

Bracing for potential records request change in the Privacy Rule May 1, 2021 Briefings on HIPAA Covered entities (CEs) that have flirted with the 30-day mark for response time with patient requests for access to or copies of their protected health information (PHI)...

Leading a Release of Information Business During Extraordinary Times March 17, 2021 Journal of AHIMA When the impact of the pandemic upended the status quo in March 2020, health systems and organizations needed to completely change their operations and adopt a remote...

Could HIPAA Changes Weaken Patient Privacy? March 9, 2021 Healthcare Info SecurityProposed changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule could weaken patient data privacy protections, say Rita Bowen and Zachary Perry of the Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services....

How to Implement and Support a Virtual Front Desk March 3, 2021 Journal of AHIMAMore than a year since the outbreak of COVID-19, virtual walk-up windows for patient and family record requests have become the new normal. Fifty percent of traditional health information...

Understanding the Eight Exceptions to Information Blocking February 25, 2021 Journal of AHIMA​The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT’s information blocking final rule, part of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act), goes into effect April 5, 2021....

HIPAA Challenges: Keep Pace With Disclosure Management Changes February 10, 2021 For The Record Magazine​Amid the pandemic and pressure to comply with new rules and regulations, hospitals and health systems are faced with unprecedented challenges. As a result, HIM...

HIPAA audit report highlights the need to improve patient access February 1, 2021 Briefings on HIPAAIn the months before a transition to a new administration, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released the long-awaited 2016-2017 HIPAA Audits Industry Report, offering...

Examining proposed modifications toHIPAA Privacy Rule January 11, 2021 Briefings on HIPAAAs many anticipated, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has pushed out a flurry of proposed rules in the months leading up to the Trump administration’s departure....

Providing Patients with Records Access: Overcoming Challenges December 31, 2020 Healthcare Info SecurityAs federal regulators intensify their focus on compliance with requirements to provide patients with access to their health information, healthcare organizations...

Changes to HIPAA, New Data Interoperability Rules, and the Impact of COVID-19 on ROI October 15, 2020 Healthcare IT Todayby John Lynn As mentioned previously, we’re taking part on the Virtual AHIMA conference this week.  Exploring how things work in the virtual world,...

How to Improve Patient Experience in the ROI Process October 12, 2020 Journal of AHIMAPatient satisfaction is one of the most critical aspects of the release of information (ROI) process. Patients deserve respectful and trustworthy customer service to ensure the best...

​Breaking Down the Walls: Strategies to Reduce Compliance Risk in the Revenue Cycle October 1, 2020 Compliance CosmosThroughout the history of healthcare in the United States, departments have worked within their own silos. Today, with increased managed care...

​Healthcare Organizations Should Expect a Surge in Managed Care Audits and Reviews in the COVID-19 Aftermath September 28, 2020 HFMAby Greg Ford and Dawn Crump Before COVID-19, healthcare organizations were experiencing a steady influx of audit activity from health...

MRO’s Diana Warner discusses telehealth and the Health Information Management (HIM) professional’s role during COVID-19. In this article, she outlines the need to review and update documentation practices, content, polices and procedures, all while upholding patient privacy and confidentiality.