HIPAA Audit: OCR Is On The Move
The technological implications of the Federal Health Care Reform are now becoming obvious, and states are beginning to confront the burden of implementing these changes. While extending health insurance to an additional 32 million Americans presents great opportunities for the state government, it also brings with it, big risks. And these risks are mainly associated with the federal government not willing to put money into upgrading IT systems. However, since using technology is fundamental to long-term viability of the healthcare reform, tackling risks inherent to state health IT Compliance efforts may be a huge challenge.
All this boils down to the fact that there is growing pressure on public CIOs (Chief Information Officers), who now have added responsibilities. Analysts and consultants are of the opinion that it is critical for state CIOs to be involved in health IT policy issues, and also be more knowledgeable and familiar with issues related to the governance of Health Information Exchange (HIE). They should also be aware of how telehealth and HIE investments can impact Medicaid costs, and should be able to coordinate between Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and planned HIEs.
Hence there is a need to recreate or revamp IT infrastructure to prepare for huge numbers of Medicaid enrollments in the coming years, and this has added to the growing anxiety of public CIOs. However, upgrading information systems to these changing needs is a challenge in itself, because of the high cost of most IT applications.
Also, there has been growing reliance on IT in the healthcare industry, and rapid adoption of Electronic Medical Records (EMR), which have made it essential to ensure safe handling of sensitive data. And in addition to this, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has also renewed focus on HIPAA Compliance. Hence, safeguarding medical records and preventing unauthorized access to patient records have been of high priority lately.
So public CIOs are now taking an objective look at how statewide health systems can be made more efficient. One way of dealing with this would be to adopt services hosted in the cloud, instead of using traditional methods, which involve procuring and managing IT systems. While on the one hand cloud-based services provide an opportunity for rapid deployment and greater interoperability, on the other, they are highly cost-effective. And with state budgets being cut, cloud-based solutions can prove much safer than traditional systems.
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