Access the on-demand version of this webinar here or access the full series here.

PART III

From patient privacy complaints to cybersecurity attacks and breaches, the HIPAA-related compliance challenges facing covered entities can seem overwhelming.  The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the agency responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Rules, recently announced an enforcement initiative targeting covered entities that fail to provide patients with access to their records.  In 2019, OCR also updated the penalties for breaches and publicized several multi-million dollar settlements against a variety of covered entities ranging from hospital systems to small dental practices.  In this webinar, we will provide an overview of OCR’s recent enforcement activities, including insight on how to interpret the recent settlement agreements and incorporate “lessons learned” into your organization’s compliance work plan.  We will also review the breach investigation and reporting requirements applicable to longterm care facilities and suggest strategies to ensure your organization responds appropriately to HIPAA-related incidents.  Finally, we will provide suggestions on performing a HIPAA risk analysis to help your organization focus on its top privacy and security risk areas. 

Series Description

The regulatory landscape for providers of post-acute care has changed dramatically in recent months. New requirements of participation for longterm care facilities, promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2016, have been implemented in three phases, with the last and arguably most significant set of changes implemented in November 2019. On October 1, 2019, and January 1, 2020, respectively, CMS implemented new “patient-driven” Medicare payment methodologies for skilled nursing facility services (SNF) and for home health services.

This series of four sixty-minute webinars will provide information and guidance to post-acute care providers on emerging topics relating to the revised requirements of participation and Medicare payment methodologies. Three of the webinars will focus on provider policies that will be under increased scrutiny as a result of the revised requirements of participation: compliance and ethics programs, emergency preparedness plans, and policies and procedures related to patient/resident privacy and information. One webinar will provide an overview of the Patient-Driven Payment Methodology (PDPM) for SNF services and the Patient-Driven Groupings Methodology (PDGM) for home health services, as well as identifying key compliance risks associated with the implementation of these methodologies. Each webinar will provide practical advice on how longterm care facilities and other post-acute care providers can most effectively develop and implement policies to respond to the new or revised requirements, and to strengthen the patient experience and patient care.