Care Delivery Solutions Creates Consulting Unit for Handheld, Internet Platforms; CEO to Interview on Ceocast.com Sept. 6.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers GLENDALE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 6, 2000 With HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, Regulations Looming, Compliance and Growth Eclipse Y2K See Y2K problem and Y2K compliant. Y2K - Year 2000 as Key Issue for Health-Care Companies, Say Experts What is bigger than Y2K and lasts longer than a day? The top-of-mind answer for many IT professionals in the health-care industry is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when of 1996). HIPAA has become the next formidable task for health-care IT pros to shoulder the burden for the coming months and may experience infrastructure reverberations in the following year, particularly with small- to mid-sized health-care companies, non-profit organizations and physicians. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recent IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) health information systems survey, the most widespread single business issue facing health-care providers over the next two years is compliance to HIPAA guidelines. CDSC See Contingent deferred sales charge. (Care Delivery Solutions Corp.) has recently created CDS Consulting, designed to address health-care professionals' needs regarding HIPAA, HCFA HCFA abbr. Health Care Financing Administration HCFA, n.pr See Health Care Financing Administration. (Health Care Financing Administration Health Care Financing Administration, n.pr department in the U.S. agency of Health and Human Services responsible for the oversight of the Medicaid and Medicare benefit programs, including guidelines, payment, and coverage policies. ) guidelines, incorporating its health-care and IT expertise toward billing and documentation compliance. "Without proper compliance programs in place, any information technology initiative underway or currently in development could be stopped dead in its tracks or derailed," said Zima Hartz, MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration , chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. at CDSC. "Achieving uniformity and efficacy are goals of HIPAA, which present a formidable challenge for IT professionals to provide clear, thoughtful guidance on information systems that function for the health-care industry." "We're health-care people who formed an IT company, so we genuinely understand the needs of health professionals at all levels, from both the clinical and payer sides," said CDSC's president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , Jonathan Doctor, MPH, MBA, who will be interviewed on Ceocast.com today, Sept. 6. "Health care is unlike any industry in that thorough knowledge of its complexities and first-hand experience with its operations are critical for any development and implementation endeavoring to succeed. Our staff has the unique ability to translate the needs of the health-care setting into viable effective product, evidenced by CDSC's recently released handheld medical charge capture and coding compliance tools SmartEncounter(TM) and SmartNotes(TM) (now in beta release See beta version. )." Is System Overhaul Necessary? With confidentiality and security being key provisions for IT professionals' work, another focus equally important is building flexible and compliant platforms. For those entities utilizing Web-based transactions, data encryption is an issue for health-care organizations. But is tearing down a system to build it back toward compliance always the answer? "Any entity entrusting information on the Web, whether the system is new or has been `bandaged,' is susceptible to HIPAA regulations," added Doctor. "The key is to have a plan in place and create a platform that would make a change toward flexible and seamless compliance within these strict security guidelines." Leveraging its unique skill set and experience operating in the trenches of health care, CDS Consulting possesses the unique blend of domain and technology expertise in a complex e-commerce world of health-care delivery. The software engineering group and consulting group at CDS has more than 75 years of combined experience in the trenches of health care, utilizing its talents with several established concerns including Paradigm (paradigmhealth.com) and Intramedicine Inc. (intramedicine.com). "Our knowledge of true workings of the health-care delivery environment and our ability to translate this understanding into practical information technology that delivers is unparalleled in the industry," said Doctor. Care Delivery Solutions Corp. are developers of the innovative patent-pending SmartEncounter(TM) and SmartNotes(TM) suite of medical charge capture and coding compliance handheld products forms unit to help provider organizations develop their own applications and understand and prepare for HIPAA as well as other imminent technical and regulatory developments in health care. Their site can be accessed at www.caredeliverysolutions.com. For more information on HIPAA, log onto the Web site for the Health Care Financing Administration, which administers HIPAA, at www.hcfa.gov. To see Doctor's interview on Ceocast.com, log onto www.ceocast.com. |
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