Back to Industry Activities & Emerging Issues

Regulatory & Accreditation     

Keep pace with national regulatory issues and proposals as well as accreditation initiatives that affect health care organizations and impact health information management.  Reduce the risks to your organization by ensuring the development and maintenance of policies, procedures and practices that support compliance. 

• Standards & Industry Activities
• Other Resources & Links
• AHIMA Resources
• AHIMA Comments/Positions

Standards & Industry Activities

Accreditation: 

• The Joint Commission’s mission is to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations.  Learn more about the Joint Commission’s Standards Improvement Initiative (SII).

• Joint Commision's Pre-publication Standards

Recent Federal Regulations:

• AHRQ PatientSafety and Quality Improvement:  Proposed Rule Schedule

  On Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 AHRQ published a proposed rule establishing the framework by which hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers may voluntarily report information to Patient Safety Organizations (PSO), on a privileged and confidential basis, for analysis of patient safety events.  The proposed rule also establishes those guidelines:

  • an organization must follow to become a PSO
  • the confidentiality protections for the information that is assembled and developed by providers and PSOs
  • data standards for the exchange of data
  • security concepts to follow
  • certification requirements for a PSO

   Much of the driving force for this legislation is the landmark report, "To Err is Human", by the Institute of Medicine in 1999.  The Report cited studies that found that at least 44,000 people and potentially as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as a result of preventable medical errors. 

• National Provider Identifier (NPI)

• Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2008 Rates

• Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

• 2008 Medicare Proposed  Physician Fee Schedule

Other Resources & Links

• Medicare Conditions of Participation for Hospitals 2004 CFR Title 42, Volume 3

• HIPAA Regulations

• HHS - Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA

• HIPAA Security Guidance

• FDA Rules: 21 CFR Part 11: Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures

AHIMA Resources

To Review or Not to Review: Finding the Solution for Ongoing Record Review

Practice Toolkit: Medical Record Completion

Guidelines for EHR Documentation to Prevent Fraud

Dangerous E/M Coding Practices: Identifying and Remedying Common Sources

On the Frontlines of Healthcare Privacy: An AHIMA Roundtable

State of HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance

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