24hr Healthcare Tech Services, IT Support + Cyber Security

Your patients depend on you as their healthcare provider. Your IT shouldn’t get in the way. Nerds That Care can help improve your practice with personalized technology services.

At Nerds That Care, we have a thorough understanding of the strict privacy policies and mandated technology guidelines required for health practices to successfully move into the digital age.

The exchange of patient information between healthcare providers, insurers, patients, and other administrative entities requires regulated security standards. In 1996, the U.S. Government established privacy rules that regulate the disclosure and use of a patient’s healthcare information. Don’t let these regulations stunt your ability to utilize digital medical records. We can help you meet HIPPA and HITECH compliance standards to take advantage of modern technology and streamline your operations without adding overhead.

HIPAA and HITECH Compliance

Staying within HIPAA and HITECH doesn’t mean sacrificing technology to make your practice more agile.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established keep personal health information confidential. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) establishes U.S. Government-mandated checkpoints pertaining to the implementation of various technologies. Non-compliance is extremely risky. Fortunately, Nerds That Care has a strong understanding in IT security solutions and compliance pertaining to the healthcare industry, and can implement new solutions to enhance your day-to-day workflows without stepping out of bounds with the rules.

Software, Communication, and Infrastructure Solutions

We manage your technology allowing you to operate with the agility you need.

Step away from the archaic file folder system and take advantage of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to speed up communication, delivery, security, and ensure your records are backed up.

Nerds That Care is dedicated to guiding your practice to the digital age so you can utilize new technologies to assist you in your day-to-day challenges.

For more information about HIPAA compliance standards or other medical IT issues, contact Nerds That Care at 631-648-0026.

EMR: Electronic Medical Records

Health maintenance organizations have begun to institute Electronic Medical/Health Records that give providers an interface to store, organize, and maintain patient records.

Doctors are like any other business owners, they need their technology working properly in order to run an efficient business. At Nerds That Care, we deal in efficiency. We are proud to provide enterprise-level technology solutions and support for small and midsized practices in the New York area. Part of the benefit your health care practice will see by partnering with us is that we offer an emergency medical/health records solutions that is sure to streamline your patience sensitive information. By incorporating these EHR/EMRs into your practice, you can present your patients a whole other level of patient care.

Solutions Designed with Doctors in Mind

Nerds That Care presents customizable EMR packages that are specifically built for healthcare physicians.

By converting your practice over from paper files to an EMR/EHR interface, you are taking a big step forward. This process isn’t without it’s issues, as it takes time to migrate the patient information over to the digital format. At Nerds That Care, we help you make that transition seamless. We facilitate all the training and support you will need to get your EMR/EHR package up and running. We will guide you and your staff through the process of converting and utilizing your new EMR solution. This service will allow you to focus on administration of care and not your practice’s technology.

Cut Costs with EMR/EHR

Quit being forced to wait for changes to a patient’s medical records.

With Nerds That Care’s EMR solution, changes to a patient’s medical record happen in real time. Providers see benefits immediately, especially when a patient will be seen by multiple practitioners in one visit. Our EMR solution eliminates the costs for transcriptions, and with the press of a button, patients information can be sorted and displayed. Another benefit for healthcare practices are the government incentives of implementing an EMR program. This provides additional value beyond the benefits of simply streamlining the operations of your practice.

For more information about emergency medical/health records, and how Nerds That Care can present options for your practice, contact us at 631-648-0026.

IT Support: Serving Long Island and New York City

Understanding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

Laws for the secure and private transfer of individual’s medical information.

The nearly instantaneous flow of information is a defining variable of the information age. Many leading companies have established a benchmark of implementing flexible and effective new technologies into their business plan, and just now many small businesses have been able to get out ahead of this trend and implement their own solutions. While it’s true some companies can use this technology better than others, in regards to healthcare information, the seamless flow of information can literally be the difference between life and death.

In August of 1996, United States President Bill Clinton, in an effort to promote secure transfer of patient information, signed into law the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). At that time, HIPAA stated that the Secretary of Health and Human Services had to publicize official standards for the electronic exchange, privacy, and security of health-related information. It also stated that the Secretary of HHS had the responsibility of issuing regulations if the U.S. Congress didn’t enact privacy and security standards by 1999. Three years later, HHS unveiled the official rules.

Table of Contents

1. HIPAA Privacy Rule
2. HIPAA Security Rule
3. Electronic Transaction & Code Sets Standards
4. National Identifier Requirements
5. Enforcement & Penalties

HIPAA Privacy Rule

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, or the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, established protocols for many healthcare providers in regards to who has access to patient information. The privacy rule applies to health plans, health care agencies, and to any healthcare provider that transmits patient information electronically.

Individual and group medical plans that provide or pay the cost of medical care are covered by HIPAA. These plans include health, dental, vision, prescription drug insurers, health maintenance organizations (HMO), Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare insurance providers.

The following information is protected under HIPAA’s Privacy rule:

• An individual’s complete history of their physical and mental health conditions.
• The treatment or provision the individual has access to.
• An individual’s payment information for said health care.

The Privacy Rule is administered by the Office for Civil Rights.

HIPAA Security Rule

The more seamless the transfer of data is, the better it works for business. Unfortunately, there are entities out there looking for opportunities to intercept this information for their own, often nefarious, purposes. No where is data more personal, than in the health care industry.

HIPAA’s Security Rule, or Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information, specifies a series of administered, physical, and technical safeguards for covered parties to guarantee the integrity, real-time availability, and confidentiality of protected electronic healthcare information.

The Security Rule is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Electronic Transaction & Code Sets Standards

The standardization of electronic transactions is important for the efficiency of the care being provided to patients. With the standardization rules set forth by HIPAA, each health care provider has to adhere to the same set of protocols as other providers do to ensure the transferred financial and medical information is easily deciphered by the health care provider. HIPAA sets a standard and the operating rules for electronic funds transfer (EFT) and electronic remittance advice (ERA) and attachments for claims.

This section of HIPAA is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

National Identifier Requirements

As a part of the HIPAA law, health care providers are mandated to use unique Health Plan Identifiers (HPID). These are identifying numbers assigned to specific medical transactions. For example, the numeric code for an allergy test is the same from one provider to another. This level of standardization allows providers to avoid the pitfalls that come with deciphering what care is to be provided as well as the act of billing the services that have been received.

Like the transaction code standardization, the identifiers are administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Enforcement & Penalties

Every law needs a ruling entity. HIPAA is no different. In order rules of the HIPAA law to work, the Enforcement Rule is in place for dedicated checks and balances. Currently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services enforces the HIPAA Security Rule and the Rules covering the standardization of information, while the Privacy concern is handled by The Office of Civil Rights.

To date, the implementation of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act standards have substantially increased the use of electronic data interchange within the medical industry. Provisions in play under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 will increase these electronic interchanges and include further requirements to take into account the basics of the initial act.

Additionally, as a part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, health plans will be required to certify their compliance. The Act provides for crippling penalties for failures to certify or comply with the new standards and operating rules. These penalties include:

Penalties for General Violations of HIPAA:

• Each violation: A $100 penalty per violation, with no more than $25,000 in one year for all violations of identical requirements.

Penalties for the Wrongful Disclosure of Individually Identifiable Health Information:

• For wrongful disclosure: $50,000 penalty, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
• For wrongful disclosure made under false pretenses: $100,000 penalty, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.
• For wrongful disclosure made with the intent to sell information: $250,000 penalty, imprisonment of not more than 10 years, or both.

As well as the penalties listed above, covered entities that fail to comply with HIPAA regulations will likely be subject to a loss of credibility, which will likely result in the loss of public trust and revenue.

For more information about HIPAA or our role in your data security, call us today at 631-648-0026. We can clarify about the specifics for HIPAA compliance and present secure data transfers for your medical practice.