Oscislawski LLC

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Krystyna Monticello
Helen Oscislawski

Latest from Oscislawski LLC

Your vendor is not “taking care of it.” Compliance with the Information Blocking rule is about more than just the technology. Assemble a “task team” to tackle operational decisions that need to be made to comply with Information Blocking. Use a checklist to begin “ticking off” boxes to ensure that your organization is moving towards compliance with Info Blocking by April 5th! Subscribe to HERE to Legal HIE’s compliance library to gain access to sample policies,…
How can an Actor/covered entity provider comply with both the Information Blocking Rule & HIPAA when access to EHI/PHI needs to be denied based on harm that arises from corrupted data? Delay access to EHI/PHI instead of denying access completely. Have a licensed health care professional confirm the denial of access due to data issues. Adopt a standing policy “signed off” by a licensed health care professional permitting denials of access in pre-identified scenarios involving…
The Information Blocking (IB) Rule is intended to work in sync with HIPAA, including the “right of access” granted to patients with regard to their own protected health information (PHI).  However, as I continue to analyze how to implement the various standards that overlap between these two regulations, questions about how to thread the needle on seemingly conflicting provisions continues to come up. Today, I take a closer look at the difference between HIPAA’s “right…
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I believe that the “Preventing Harm Exception” under the Information Blocking Rule is not only the most challenging exception to apply, but also the most difficult to interpret – particularly where some of the standards do not exactly track HIPAA, and other imprecise language has made its interpretation uncertain.  In this post, I will attempt to distill the Preventing Harm Exception down to its basic elements, as well as point out issues in its interpretation…
“If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.” After several years and appeals, M.D. Anderson has succeeded in overturning a hefty civil monetary penalty “(CMP”) stemming from a series of data breaches involving unencrypted devices. On January 14, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled to vacate the $4.3M penalty assessed against M.D. Anderson as arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. M.D. Anderson conducts research and provides cancer treatment through a research…
Written by Catriona Coffey. The new year has much in store for electronic health information exchange compliance!  Today’s post provides an overview of anticipated changes to the health information regulatory landscape in 2021, including increased interoperability efforts and telehealth expansion due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is not surprising that many of the topics discussed below are a direct result of the interoperability requirements created by the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”) enacted…
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Seasons Greetings to all of our readers!  First, we want to wish you and yours a holiday season filled with health, happiness and hope!  We also want to thank you all for continuing to make Legal HIE such a popular and highly visited blog!  It puts a smile on our face seeing so many of you enjoying our posts and returning to our site often!   As stockings are being hung by chimneys with care, we…
Last Friday, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued new Guidance on how HIPAA permits covered entities to use health information exchanges (HIEs) to disclose PHI for the public health activities of a Public Health Authority (PHA).  Specifically, it provides examples relevant to the COVID-19 public health emergency. OCR Director, Roger Severino, specifically notes that the Guidance was issued: “to highlight how HIPAA supports the use of health information exchanges in sharing health data to…
Late last week, two new proposed rules were released which will affect the exchange of health information and HIPAA, among other things.  The CMS and OCR proposed rules come in at over 347 and 357 pages respectively – so that’s a lot of meat to digest!  Here is an overview of the highlights: CMS Proposed Rule At a high level, the CMS Proposed Rule aims to “improve the electronic exchange of health care data among…
On Monday, ONC posted a new Information Blocking Frequently Asked Questions resource!  Here are a few of the highlights from all of the FAQs responded to by ONC: Q:  Are health plans or other payers subject to the information blocking regulation? A:  For purposes of the information blocking regulation in 45 CFR part 171, the term “actor” includes health care providers, health IT developers of certified health IT, and health information networks (HIN) or health information exchanges…