Managing Rehabilitation Patients is an Integral and Important Part of Healthcare Units

The Rehabilitation patient management services are offered to both inpatients and outpatients who have undergone several injuries and illnesses like spinal cord injury, strokes, amputations, brain injuries etc. which have resulted in substantial loss of function. Overally, rehabilitation helps patients become independent, self-reliant and cope up with the trauma. Each aspect of this Rehabilitation patient management helps patients to function independently in society.

Professionals are a part of patient rehabilitation program as their team of specialists sketch out a comprehensive program that caters to the unique needs of the patient. Often, family education and training is an integral part of the program and both patients and families find this unit different from other areas of the medical care unit as it is more customized and homely. Patients can wear their own clothing, eat in the dining room and can roam around as much as possible during the day which is made so as to make it easier for them to get back to their normal lifestyle. Family participation is also encouraged in the program.

OIG Work Plan 2014—An Overview

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released the 2014 OIG Work Plan that covers the projects it will focus on during fiscal year 2014 and beyond. They’ve also released the OIG Outlook 2014 video, where senior executives are discussing emerging trends in combating fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal health care programs, OIG's top priorities for 2014, and upcoming projects in the newly released OIG Work Plan.

2014 OIG Work Plan Focuses on 3 Main Goals:

1.      Fight fraud, waste and abuse

The focus of OIG is on areas like prescription drugs and home-and community-based services. In 2013, a record number of criminal convictions and civil actions took place, which resulted in over $5 billion in investigative receivables.

2.      Promote quality, safety and value

The OIG is planning to focus strictly on the quality and care of nursing homes. So that beneficiaries receive quality care during their stay. The OIG plans to analyze the adverse events in SNF and assess the events of the past so that they could prevent it in future.

3.      Secure the future of HHS programs

The OIG top priority will remain the Health Information Technology that includes the use of electronic health records (EHR). The OIG will offer suggestions for improvement based upon detection of vulnerabilities.

Safeguard Your Organization from HIPAA breaches

The healthcare organizations need to reflect the revamped HIPAA Omnibus rules in their policies and procedures. Although, the new rules cover various changes to HIPAA Privacy rule, Security, and Breach Notification Rules but the most notable changes happened in the individual rights that must be reflected in an entity’s HIPAA policies and Notice of Privacy Practices (NPPs). The new HIPAA policy covers— new requirements of fundraising activity and a chance to opt out, new requirements for individuals to provide authorization for the sale of PHI, patient rights of access to electronic records, rights to limit certain disclosures, and rights of notice in the event of a breach. The updated rules are very stringent and breaches are subject to enforcement that can include fines up to $50,000 per day.

Although the new rules hold the covered entities responsible for protecting patients' health information, some healthcare organizations are making the same mistakes again and again. Recently, a hospital in Alhambra, Calif., AHMC healthcare informed 729,000 patients that their PHI has been stolen following the theft of two unencrypted laptops. Apparently, AHMC hospital breach is one of the major HIPAA privacy breaches reported in 2013 and the 11th biggest HIPAA breach till date. A recent survey shows that many healthcare organizations have been struggling to comply with HIPAA. In 2013, there has been a 138 percent increase in personal health information breaches. The Office for Civil Rights has promised an increase in investigations and penalties for entities that have failed to take patient privacy seriously.