Noridian Revises Information on Physician Order Authentication Requirements

California Hospital Association, Nov 29, 2016

Medicare administrative contractor Noridian has updated its website with important information about patient order authentication requirements. With input from CHA, the site now reflects the current medical records condition of participation, which allows physician authentication orders to be signed by another practitioner who has responsibility for a patient, rather than only by the ordering physician. 

Noridian previously published a response in one of its FAQ documents stating, "Orders may be accepted and put in writing by personnel authorized to do so by applicable State and Federal laws and regulations. The order must be countersigned and dated by the ordering physician within an acceptable timeframe." 

The statement now correctly reiterates, "All orders, including verbal orders, must be dated, timed, and authenticated promptly by the ordering practitioner or by another practitioner who is responsible for the care of the patient only if such a practitioner is acting in accordance with State law, including scope-of-practice laws, hospital policies, and medical staff bylaws, rules, and regulations."

CDPH Revises New Hospital Relicensing Survey

California Hospital Association, Nov 28, 2016

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Licensing and Certification (L&C) program earlier this year implemented a new general acute care hospital relicensing survey, intended to evaluate facility compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements addressed in Title 22 and the Health and Safety Code. CDPH has reissued the relicensing survey protocol with several changes. 

Focused on quality of care, the survey will consist of a review of nursing and pharmacy as well as identified past compliance concerns. L&C will review three years of past compliance, including deficiencies and associated plans of correction - all of which could be areas of emphasis during the survey. Hospitals should be prepared to provide a full list of services and locations to the survey team, including outpatient services, and should review all past compliance issues (including 2567s, plans of corrections, etc.) as well as every complaint, entity-report incident and breach of medical information reported. To help hospitals better understand the survey process, CHA hosted a webinar, available for purchase, on the upcoming changes and has developed the California Hospital Survey Manual. Hospitals are encouraged to review information about the survey on the CDPH website.

Webinar: HealthIT Certification - Final Rule

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 

Nov 29, 2016

Join ONC for one of two webinars where the Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability Final Rule will be discussed on December 7, 2016 and December 14, 2016 at 1:00pm - 2:00pm ET. The Enhanced Oversight Final Rule updates the ONC Health IT Certification Program by creating a focused ONC direct review regulatory framework, aligning testing lab oversight with the existing processes for ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs), and building a more comprehensive set of publicly available ONC-ACB surveillance results. The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2016 and will be effective on December 19, 2016. 

• Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 10:00am - 11:00am PT
• Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 10:00am -11:00am PT

HIE Bright Spot Report and Factsheet

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 

Nov 29, 2016

The Long-Term and Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Providers and Health Information Exchange (HIE) Report explains the current state of health information exchange with LTPAC facilities, the value of health IT to LTPAC facilities, patients, and residents, as well as issues that challenge the interoperable exchange of information. This report captures many of lessons learned to support exchange of health information with LTPAC facilities and identifies engagement opportunities within LTPAC health exchange activities and initiatives. 

Check out the NEW Health Information Exchange Factsheet that was developed in collaboration with the Advance Interoperable Health Information Exchange (HIE) Long Term Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Community of Practice (CoP). The factsheet describes the value of exchanging health information for Long Term Post-Acute Care providers. This fact sheet is tailored for providers and health care administrators who are interested in adopting HIE and are seeking more information about ways in which to connect. Read more about the HIE Bright Spots.