Oct 24, 2017 | Blog, Information Sharing, Uncategorized
Exploring Driver #5 of the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information”
By: Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA
People are becoming better informed about their rights and the value of information to inform health and healthcare decisions. Increase in personal health spending is one reason consumers are becoming better informed. So is the growing understanding that it’s wise to be knowledgeable and involved in one’s health and healthcare decisions. Release of Information (ROI) teams see this trend firsthand with the growing number of requests for records from patients.
ROI is on the front line in helping patients become smart health information consumers. Patient requests will continue to increase and they will expect a reasonable customer service experience in requesting and obtaining records. Those responsible for ROI should be monitoring changing requirements, exploring best practices and planning for innovation in a future-focused way.
Earlier blogs examined the value of standardizing ROI across the health care enterprise to improve quality and compliance. Enterprise ROI also improves customer satisfaction and contributes to an organization’s patient engagement objectives. Regardless of whether the patient initiates a request at the physician’s office or hospital, the request process should be the same and the patient should be able to secure the requested information without going from site to site. Verisma clients are realizing quantifiable improvement in customer satisfaction, improved compliance, accuracy, and cost management by deploying ROI technology and consistent policy and process across the enterprise. If full standardization is not possible for your organization, use ROI technology to unify the process as fully as possible and plan to further centralize over time.
The next wave of innovation will be self-service functionality enabling patients and other authorized requestors to request medical records via web at their convenience. There will be no need to stand in line or to fill out a paper form. Done well, self-service request apps use state of the art security, identity verification, and preserve a record of transactions. As with enterprise ROI, Verisma clients are now introducing self-service into ROI thereby helping patients gain access to health information while also stepping up security and accountability.
Patients may want ease of access to their information, but they don’t want to trade off their privacy rights to gain it. Recent research found that 49% of US online adults are concerned about the privacy of their healthcare information when using on line tools.[1] On line request apps must meet HIPAA requirements and maintain a high bar for identity management and the accommodation of patients’ disclosure preferences. If implemented properly, request apps can help educate patients in the exercise of their rights process. ROI teams can do a great deal to help educate patients about their rights, and a valuable source of educational materials is with HHS.[2] Proactive education about privacy rights and your organization’s practices benefits all.
HIM managers should evaluate the request process from the patients’ perspective.
- What data are available on volume of requests at various provider settings across the network?
- How similar or dissimilar is the patient experience at various settings?
- How does staff in various settings respond to a set of “test” questions that patients might pose that require working knowledge of HIPAA privacy regulations?
- How can customer facing processes be improved through greater standardization, through technology, education and request apps?
This is our final post in the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information” series. Should you have any comments or questions please e-mail us at solutions@verisma.com.
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[1] Khatibloo, F., Forester Research in testimony before the NCVHS, September 13, 2017, (https://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Sep-13-@115pm-Khatibloo-Beyond-HIPAA-Statement.pdf)
[2] Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html)
Oct 4, 2017 | Uncategorized
New solution flags predefined patients, transactions early in disclosure management workflow to help organizations manage high-risk requests efficiently and effectively
ALEXANDRIA, VA. – Oct. 4, 2017 – Verisma Systems, Inc., announced the launch of a new product, Spotlight, designed to help clients respond effectively to requests for protected health information that might pose a risk to their organizations.
Disclosure management is a sensitive process under any circumstance. But specific requestors or transactions – such as court-ordered subpoenas, VIP requests, and those made by irate patients or families engaged in child custody proceedings – may carry additional risk. Spotlight utilizes organization-determined rules and conditions to automatically flag these requests, alerting appropriate staff and triggering cross-departmental checklists to ensure the requests are processed correctly.
“Health information management leaders tell us 90% of the sleep they lose can be traced back to a mere 10% of the requests their teams handle,” says Marty McKenna, CEO of Verisma. “We’ve designed Spotlight to virtually eliminate those sleepless nights. We identify potentially risky requests almost as soon as they are made so they can be handled appropriately before it’s too late.”
Spotlight automatically identifies requests based on criteria such as specific request reasons, requestors and days-until-date-due. Flags may also be activated manually. Leaders can add an editable protocol checklist, which documents steps completed and by whom, with a date/time stamp. Spotlight auto-generates management reports of all flagged transactions, and integrates with Verisma’s User Tasks & Notification feature to ensure all appropriate personnel are aware and involved.
Phase 1 deployment of Verisma Spotlight will focus on two categories of high-risk disclosure management clients have identified as their greatest challenges:
- Court-ordered subpoenas for information, which often represent tight turnaround times where lack of compliance could result in contempt-of-court charges and associated penalties;
- Attorneys who have become known as “high maintenance,” and require special attention to avoid disruption in normal workflow or threat of a lawsuit.
“Every HIM director I know struggles with these high-risk requests,” says Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA, president of Kloss Strategic Advisors and former CEO of AHIMA. “If we don’t identify them early enough in the process, they create a lot of headaches and can damage the organization. A tool to help us get ahead of these requests is worth its weight in gold.”
About Verisma
Verisma is a health information technology provider focused on delivering unparalleled Disclosure Management solutions to the healthcare industry. The company’s flagship automation system, Verisma® Release Manager (VRM), is utilized by well-known healthcare organizations nationwide. VRM automates workflow to improve turnaround times, reduce errors and drive down costs – effectively automating medical records release while delivering comprehensive release audit capabilities. It is the only release technology with integrated HIPAA guidance and compliance review support. For additional information, please visit our website at www.verisma.com, call 866-390-7404 or email solutions@verisma.com.
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Glaser
Phone (770) 317-8831
Elizabeth@verisma.com
Sep 28, 2017 | Uncategorized
Leader in automated disclosure management to make self-service available to requesters within client organizations, commercial health plans, attorneys
ALEXANDRIA, VA. – Sept. 28, 2017 – Verisma Systems, Inc., today announced plans to extend the functionality of Verisma Request Application (VRA), a self-service solution that enables patients and their proxies to request their medical records online 24/7/365. The company, an industry leader in technology-driven enterprise disclosure management, will develop functionality so internal requestors, commercial health plans and attorneys can benefit from similar self-service options.
“We consulted with clients and they sent a very clear message,” says Marty McKenna, CEO of Verisma. “They expect the same online access and convenience in professional transactions as in their personal lives. We have the technology and commitment to deliver, and will accelerate our plans to meet this emerging market need.”
Verisma will introduce functionality over the coming months that will enable each of the three expanded stakeholder groups to securely and easily request/receive records within applications and programs they use on a daily basis, according to Andrew McManus, Founder & Executive Vice President at Verisma. “Our objective is to make the request and release process convenient and seamless,” he says. “We will enable requesters to gain entry to VRA at the most logical point within their workflow while rigorously preserving a compliant release process.”
McManus says Verisma’s analytic tools indicate the most common disclosure requests are urgent in nature and typically support continuity of care. However, commercial health plans and attorney requests rank second and third in frequency, which drove the company’s decision to expand VRA to these specific users.
“We want to make requesters’ jobs and lives easier,” McKenna says. “These new features within VRA will certainly do that, while also allowing us to continue to exceed the expectations of our patient and proxy requestors.”
About Verisma
Verisma is a health information technology provider focused on delivering unparalleled Disclosure Management solutions. The company’s flagship automation system, Verisma® Release Manager (VRM), is utilized by well-known healthcare organizations nationwide. VRM automates workflow to improve turnaround times, reduce errors and drive down costs – effectively automating medical records release while delivering comprehensive release audit capabilities. It is the only release technology with integrated HIPAA guidance and compliance review support. For additional information, please visit www.verisma.com, call 866-390-7404 or email solutions@verisma.com
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Glaser
Phone (770) 317-8831
Elizabeth@verisma.com
Sep 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
Date: September 27th, 2017, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
Presenters:
Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, President, Kloss Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Julia Applegate, Vice President of Client Operations, Verisma
People are indeed becoming empowered health consumers and more patients are seeking access to their medical records. Medical Practices are handling more requests, but may not be in compliance with current regulations—and may not be meeting the needs of their patients. Medical practices should assess and upgrade policies and procedures for Release of Information (ROI) practices to improve both the quality of service to patients and other requestors and reduce compliance risk. The demands have increased and so have the risks.
This webinar focuses on the legal, compliance and business rationale for improving ROI in the ambulatory setting. Taking an end-to-end workflow view, best practices drawn from actual medical practices will be highlighted. Practical assessment criteria will be provided to guide practice managers, corporate and ambulatory HIM managers, privacy and compliance officers in assessing current procedures. For practices that are part of a health system, examples will highlight the trend toward standardizing ROI across the enterprise and how they are achieving this goal.
Presenters will engage attendees in considering requirements and best practices for ambulatory release of protected health information. Julia Applegate, Vice President of Client Operations at Verisma an acknowledged expert on best ROI practices will draw upon her years of experience helping hundreds of health care organizations to improve the efficiency, quality, and compliance of ROI. Linda Kloss, President of Kloss Strategic Advisors, Inc. a health care information privacy and governance educator and thought leader, will provide a holistic way of organizing and managing protected health information in light of the growing demand and changing technology and risks.
Designed for managers of medical practices and HIM, this webinar will address the following learning goals:
- Review current regulations and guidance on patient access and Release of Information
- Examine the workflow for Release of Information and key best practices throughout the process
- Identify points of vulnerability from the perspectives of customer service, compliance and cost effectiveness
- Review metrics for ROI efficiency and accuracy
- Consider the need and benefits for standardizing ROI practices across a health system and viable processes for achieving greater standardization
Approved for 1 AHIMA CEU Credit: Privacy and Security
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Sep 6, 2017 | Uncategorized
Exploring Driver #4 of the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information”
By: Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA
This blog series on transforming release of health information has examined the increased demand for information, the need to mitigate risk and control to costs. We outlined the need for sound work process design supported by workflow technology as an essential requirement for ROI today. In this third blog, we explore the need to scale technology-enabled workflow from a single site—a hospital or clinic—to the enterprise.
Enterprise may seem a lofty word but it works well to describe the need to scale-up ROI. Enterprise refers to a business (the entire health system) or a project (managing access and disclosure of protected health information). It is the term customarily used to describe the software version needed to support a whole organization. A healthcare organization doesn’t purchase multiple copies of the single user version of Microsoft 10 to support the whole organization, it gets the enterprise version to save money and ensure that the whole team is securely working together on the same platform.
Best practice for ROI requires a uniform set of policies and procedures that are sanctioned for use throughout the organization. It requires that mechanisms are in place to ensure that the sanctioned policies and procedures are being applied wherever ROI occurs in the healthcare organization, whether in a medical practice, the ED, or a hospital. ROI can no longer be siloed, with each part of the enterprise handling requests and releases as it sees fit. A standardized approach is needed, as is a process for escalating issues for timely resolution. In today’s complex work environments it’s almost impossible to ensure uniformity in a decentralized process without the use of uniform workflow technology.
Many healthcare organizations are going a step further and centralizing all release of information because this approach offers greater opportunity to mitigate risk, control cost, and improve service to customers. They may do this in-house with their own staff or outsource all or part of the function. Again, what ensures uniform practice is the use of a common technology platform designed to guide compliant workflow that allows managers to track and trend processing and release quality and productivity. Many successful Verisma customers are demonstrating the tangible value of this approach. In fact, Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, MO will address their results at the upcoming AHIMA 2017 Convention in LA (Monday, October 9th, 1-2 pm).
HIM managers may consider the following questions as they assess how best to reduce ROI cost and risk while improving service through enterprise-wide standardization:
- Can we map the current ROI practices across the enterprise? Where are requests for information being received and processed? Are current policies and processes well outlined and up-to-date? How do we measure how well they are being adhered to?
- What is the opportunity to centralize using technology-enabled workflow tools? How can we make the case for cost savings, improved compliance and better service? Whose support will be needed to effect this change?
- Given the organizations current capabilities, is it best to centralize through outsourcing, insourcing or a hybrid combination?
In our final post in the series, we will explore Driver #5 Enterprise ROI Improves Customer Satisfaction of the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information.” In the meantime, please send your questions or comments to solutions@verisma.com.
