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When PHI Escapes: Breach Notification 101

In 2010, 5.4 million individuals had their protected health information (PHI) compromised through breaches of security. Typically, large breaches (more than 500 individuals’ data) occur because of intentional acts or loss or theft of files, laptops, PDAs or thumb drives.  Smaller breaches occur most often as a result of misdirected communications.  It is only a matter of time before most Covered Entities will confront a breach situation.  All Covered Entities—and now Business Associates, too—have obligations under HIPAA when a security incident or breach of PHI privacy has occurred.  In this teleconference, Alice Gosfield and Daniel Shay will present the basic steps any Covered Entity must take when a breach occurs, from risk assessment to notifying affected individuals as well as the Office of Civil Rights, along with how to take remedial steps.  Failure to comply with the rules can lead to stiff penalties.  Breach notification is now a fundamental compliance obligation.  Learn how to avoid trouble.

Medicare Physician Enrollment:
Passing Go and Staying in The Game

How The PROMETHEUS Payment® Model Can Help Now

Purchase a recording of this audioconference with Q and A and the handouts that were distributed --- $325 for a downloadable MP3. Credit Card only.

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Clinical Integration: It’s Not About Antitrust

From ‘accountable care organization’ proposals, to demands for decreased waste and cost throughout the system, as health reform roils the political landscape, the term ‘clinical integration’ has resurfaced with renewed vigor. The FTC has settled a host of price fixing cases against physicians based on the fact that the competitors bargaining for fees were not clinically integrated. They have issued only three Advisory Opinions approving clinical integration schemes. All of that is essentially beside the real point, though. The purpose of clinical integration is for providers to come together around quality and standardize their behavior to improve care. Clinical integration is about improving quality and efficiency. It has merit regardless of whether anyone pays more money to the engaged physicians; but if the integration is real, those physicians can bargain for fees together. Of greater importance in some ways though, is the fact that many physician groups themselves aren’t even clinically integrated within their own operations and they ought to be!

What is clinical integration? This one hour teleconference will look at clinical integration from the perspective of quality, efficiency, transparency, cost savings and improved margins. Still further, physician groups need to look inward and figure out how to clinically integrate within the group. Legal pitfalls exist, but they should not be the driving force for this.

This focused, one hour teleconference, with a handout including an outline and a resource list, will offer 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of Q & A addressing:

• Forms of clinical integration
• What the FTC has said
• Avoiding legal pitfalls
• Who are your competitors?
• Going beyond antitrust notions
• Benefits from doing it: with others or within your group
• Suggested techniques

But Do We Have To Get Married?: Physician-Hospital Financial Relationships 2009

• Paying Physicians For Hospital Quality Results
• Clinical Integration
• Physician Product Line Management And Provision Of Ancillary And Management Services To The Hospital
• Rights Of First Refusal
• Personal Services, Both Paying Physicians And Leasing Personnel To Them
• Compliance Training
• Gainsharing (Briefly)
• Fair Market Value Compensation

Comments from the teleconference on Anti-MarkUp and Under Arrangements: Stark Beyond Stark - "Great job of translating CMS language"; "Good show"; "To the point and clearly presented"; "Excellent teleconference."

Comments from the teleconference on Compensating Physicians for Quality Performance From Within - "A lot of information crammed into 60 minutes" "Unique information" "A really excellent program".

Compensating Physicians for Quality Performance From Within
Quality measurement, report cards and pay-for-performance are a growing reality for physicians. Whether pay-for- performance is present or not, for optimal success, physicians and their employers, whether hospitals, systems or physician groups -- should consider deploying consistent physician compensation within their groups based on quality performance. The Stark regulations permit this. Some organizations are already doing it. There is virtually no published information about this. We have data from almost 20 groups around the country doing this. Learn what they have learned. Learn about compensating physicians for quality performance from within.

No recordings for these teleconferences are available, but each handout may be purchased for $175. Click here

Physicians and Diagnostic Testing in Medicare: So Where Are We Now?
With the delay in the anti-markup rules, there is considerable confusion over what, precisely, Medicare permits now with respect to physicians billing for diagnostic testing; and then the Stark regulations confuse the issue further. This session will unravel the Gordian knot of the distinctions between diagnostic testing rules generally, and the complications created by Stark.

Comments from the first teleconference on Stark Compensation within Groups - "Great process, very informative." "Excellent program." "Excellent presentation. Well worth the fee". "Frank, factual, no nonsense presentation". "Good information."

Stark Physician Compensation Within Groups
Sophisticated, quick, focused, in-depth guidance with an emphasis on practical applications in the real world. Participants will receive an exclusive, electronic handout with citations supporting the information offered.