Many of the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) increase the complexity of operating a paper-based office. With the burden of compliance landing squarely on the shoulders of the medical establishment, many practices are turning to electronic medical records software, automating functions that once required physical paperwork. Since technology drives public policy, a new concern has made its way onto the federal radar: theft of electronic medical records.
In the interests of ensuring the security of patient records, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last year began a process of unannounced HIPAA audits; this forces offices and hospitals to be consistently up-to-date in policies and practices involving patient records. In this environment, it's easy to contract with an EMR software company, assuming that they've handled everything in the complex world of medical legality.
Offices who turn to EMR software should be advised: be doubly certain any system you purchase is HIPAA-compliant, since any legal action is likely to be directed at you. Things to look for in ensuring HIPAA compliance from your EMR software include:
- Digital signatures and encryption on all patient information. - An intra-office database (rather than one stored on another server). - Safe, secure backup capability.
Since the inception of HIPAA and the takeoff of the EMR trend, there are now many agencies in the business of independent HIPAA audits. In your search for EMR software, look for software that has already been certified as HIPAA-compliant, preferably by multiple independent organizations.
In 2005 Americans spent over $15 million on behavior-modification drugs for their pets. A cat that was attacking its owner was diagnosed as being deficient in serotonin, the neurotransmitter that provides a feeling of well-being. A dog that chased its tail for up to 5 hours was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Then there's the increasing number of pets being treated with drugs that have the same active ingredient as Prozac. What's next? Maybe we should have holistic centers where pets can be taught to reduce stress by petting their owners.
On the other hand - or paw - some pets take very good care of their owners. Some dogs can differentiate smells and know their owners are sick before they know. Studies have shown that dogs can detect breast and lung cancer. The Pine Street Foundation, a non-profit cancer education and research group, is training dogs to detect ovarian cancer. Other canines have been trained to recognize when diabetics' blood sugar levels drop and for the past 20 years dogs have been used to alert owners of pending seizures. It seems dogs have the ability to be dognosticians.
When Booger, a black pit bull terrier died, his California owner was so grief-stricken she sold her house to raise the $50,000 needed for RNL Bio. RNL is a biotech company affiliated with the South Korean lab that produced the world's first cloned dog. RNL scientists used skin cells taken from Booger's ear before he died to make embryos. The embryos were later implanted in two surrogate dogs. Two months after that the now-houseless Ms. McKinney had five, black pit bull terrier puppies and may be happily living in a pup tent.
Advances in medicine, however, are not just prolonging the lives of pets. They are enabling zoo animals to live longer too. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. has 100 geriatric animals - animals that have outlived the lifespan they would have had in the wild. There's a lion with a weight problem, a gorilla with heart disease and exotic birds with hardening of the arteries. Then there's Ambeka, a 60-year-old, female elephant. Elephants have 6 sets of teeth in their lifetime and Ambeka is on her sixth set. It's harder for her to stand up and lie down. Her weight has shifted and she moves slower. Because older humans can identify with Ambeka's age-related problems, maybe older elephants actually do forget.
Both Robert D. Thomson & Knight Pierce Hirst are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.