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November 22, 2017
Citing eye-opening statistics from the American Society of Addiction Medicine indicating 52,404 fatal drug overdoses in 2015, healthcare leaders are calling for a multi-pronged effort in combatting the opioid epidemic in America. In an article in NEJM Catalyst, a publication of the New England Journal of Medicine, Jay Bhatt, DO, and Elisa Arespacochaga of the American Hospital Association assert that while the patient-clinician partnership represents the core of the solution to the opioid crisis, “all stakeholders, including healthcare organizations, state and local health departments, law enforcement agencies, schools and community organizations need to work together to affect change. Hospitals and health systems must fully support clinicians in helping connect patients to resources, treatment and the help they need. Hospitals and health systems could support clinicians in connecting patients to social support and appropriate treatment.”
Following on the heels of President Trump’s declaration of the opioid epidemic as a national public health emergency, the president’s commission on the opioid crisis last week issued its final report containing more than 50 recommendations for addressing what has been called the most serious drug problem in U.S. history. The report, the heightened focus on opioid addiction and overdose deaths spurred by the president’s directive, and actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other agencies are sure to impact healthcare providers in several spheres, including prescribing, treatment, prevention, documentation and compliance, diversion prevention, fraud and abuse detection, and reimbursement.
The level of respect, compassion and sensitivity to healthcare consumers is increasingly being used to judge patient satisfaction regarding quality of care and is an important component of a healthcare system’s care delivery.
Under the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, failure to have written business associate agreements in place can lead to sizable fines and penalties for covered entities. In 2015, for example, Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, PA, of North Carolina paid $750,000 to settle charges that it potentially violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule by sharing patient protected health information (PHI) with a potential business partner without executing a business associate agreement. The vendor had agreed to transfer x-ray images to electronic media in exchange for harvesting the silver from the films.
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The MiraMed team simply becomes an extension of the hospital’s or health network’s staff, making the implementation seamless and effective. Engaging every step of the way is the MiraMed specialty.
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