Medical Billing Blog: Section - HIPAA

Archive of all Articles in the HIPAA Section

This is the archive containing links to all articles written in the HIPAA section of our blog.

Click any of the article links below to read the entire article or browse another section to the right to read articles on another subject.

Empowering Patients: The Role of Advocacy in Healthcare Billing

Medical billing can be a labyrinthine process, often leaving patients feeling overwhelmed and confused. From deciphering complex codes to negotiating with insurance companies, the journey through medical billing can be as challenging as the medical treatment itself. However, in this maze of paperwork and jargon, patient advocacy emerges as a guiding light, helping individuals understand and navigate their medical bills with confidence and clarity. Understanding the Complexity Medical billing is notorious for its complexity. It involves a myriad of stakeholders, including healthcare providers, insurance companies, and government agencies. Each entity has its own set of rules, codes, and procedures, making the billing process intricate and opaque for patients. One of

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P | No Comments

HIPAA and Professional Sports Figures: Let’s Get the Record Straight: Melissa’s Mention

Matt Fisher clears up some confusion related to HIPAA and individuals on Health IT Answers. “The spotlight continues to shine brightly on HIPAA, especially as an excuse, when it comes to professional athletes responding to questions around COVID vaccine status. The most recent string of erroneous responses started strongly over the summer when NFL training camps kicked into gear. As players returned and the league indicated its intentions for health safety, questions were often posed to players to find where they all stood. Before diving into a bit from my perspective, I encourage readers to check out a similar article by Charles Curtis on ForTheWin with USA Today where I

Published By: Melissa's Mentions | No Comments

EHR Satisfaction and Ease of Use

If you are a healthcare worker in any field, you are probably aware of the HITECH Act.  This Act was the inception of the electronic medical record (EHR), and meaningful use.  Meaningful use was the proposal from CMS and ONC.  The idea was to have the electronic medical record have interoperable capabilities throughout the United States (cdc.gov 2019).  We know now that is not in effect.   The introduction of the HITECH Act was to demonstrate to the reader that the front line healthcare worker (Physician, Nurse, Physician Assistant, Certified Nurse Assistant, etc.), are the workers that are the most impacted by the use of the electronic medical record.  If

Published By: Michelle Bottone | No Comments

Telemedicine Since the Coronavirus Pandemic

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, the health care system has had to rethink how to deliver care and one of the most remarkable ways to care for people’s health is with the use of telemedicine. Telemedicine is known as the remote delivery of healthcare services. Telemedicine has been in existence for years now but, it is historically only used to reach patients in remote areas. However, with the rapid changes in technology in the last decades, telemedicine has transformed into complex integrated services used in hospitals, private physician offices, homes, and other healthcare facilities. Telemedicine was originally developed by health professionals as a way to treat patients living in rural

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P | No Comments

Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Unraveling HIPAA Rules?

Art Gross poses a great question over at Health IT Answers… Is COVID-19 unraveling HIPPA?   “The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created in 1996 to protect patients and their privacy, and if you are in healthcare, you already know this and are familiar with what it means. With a goal to ensure that people could maintain health insurance between jobs, thus the “Portability” part of the name; along with a second, and critical goal, to address the “Accountability” of insurance to protect the confidentiality part of patient information and data. This meant mandating standards of privacy for electrotonic protected health information (PHI) and data that was

Published By: Melissa's Mentions | No Comments