March 4, 2013, 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has specifically called out the use of encryption for Stage 2 Meaningful use. How best should providers do this? Understand the pitfalls and challenges involved.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights is looking to fill its ranks with several health information privacy specialists. HHS is accepting applications for these fast-tracked positions, which are based in Washington, D.C., through March 12. Pay is at the GS levels of 13-14, with an annual salary range of $89,033 to $136,771.

We asked health IT leaders about their current and future IT plans, and they answered. From ICD-10 to Meaningful Use (MU) to privacy and security, there are a lot of initiatives to manage. And, the findings indicate that healthcare organizations are facing those initiatives at varied paces.

With just 20 months until the go-live date of Oct. 1, 2014, the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes—better known as ICD-10—offers an updated medical coding system replacing ICD-9, now in use for more than 30 years.

We already had an article about data breaches scheduled for this issue when the Omnibus Rule was released. However, the rule certainly contains a lot of new information to incorporate into your privacy and security efforts. Subcontractors now fall under the same requirements as business associates and those contracts are going to require updating. Providers are going to be held to high standards for a thorough, detailed risk analysis which should include documented, effective staff training.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has named Deborah Green as chief operating officer (COO) and has promoted CFO Denise Froemming to oversee additional areas of the association.

Seventy percent of healthcare professionals are skeptical that the state and/or federal health insurance exchanges (HIX) will be ready to launch by the Oct. 1, 2013, deadline, according to a survey conducted by Edifecs which polled health insurers and healthcare provider attendees of Edifecs' 2013 Healthcare Mandate Summit.

The State Innovation Models Initiative is providing up to $300 million to support the development and testing of state-based models for multipayer payment and healthcare delivery system transformation with the aim of improving health system performance for residents of participating states.