MLA News Selected Articles

June/July 2001

HIPAA Compliance Requires Change Internet Resources: Veterinary Medicine Librarians Become Trustees for Technology

This quarterly column provides an information and education forum for featuring timely topics relevant to hospital librarianship. Please forward any submissions for this column to Patricia A. Hammond; email, pahammond@capefearvalley.com; or fax, 910.609.7710.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191, was enacted to reform health insurance and health information distribution practices. The portability part of the legislation allows employees to retain health insurance coverage during job loss or change. The law also requires that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) develop standards and requirements for maintaining and transmitting health information that identifies individual patients.

The standards assure a uniform format for health insurance claims forms and some other medical forms. The DHHS regulations will also protect personal health information. All health care organizations that maintain or transmit personal health information must comply with the new regulations. Financial penalties will be imposed for violations.

A Change in Corporate Culture
Hospitals have formed HIPAA task forces to implement changes necessary for compliance with federal regulations, and many have appointed their chief information officers to lead the task forces. As stated in the March 2001 issue of Health Care Strategic Management, only 20%–30% of HIPAA compliance involves information technology. Therefore, educating staff, revising business contracts, and changing corporate culture need to be part of the process, in addition to buying and designing new information technology. It is important that chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, directors of nursing, directors of medical records, and risk managers all be part of HIPAA task forces.

The largest capital outlay for hospital implementation will be during 2002. The good news is that transaction standardization requirements should bring faster payment, because the HIPAA electronic claim format will replace 400 types of insurance claim formats currently in use. Communicating with payers will also be more efficient, because proprietary links and special computer programming will not be needed. The standardization regulations will go into effect in October 2002. Because the information flow will be more efficient, fewer employees will be needed in the business office areas.

Concerns for Privacy
Because the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) surveys hospitals, a concern for privacy and confidentiality of patient information has existed for a number of years. The JCAHO Information Standard on Confidentiality, Security, and Data Integrity (IM2) specifically address this issue. The problem for hospitals is to ensure that organizations with which they do business maintain privacy as stipulated by the HIPAA privacy standards. Physician practices may be unaware of office privacy and security measures that need to be implemented to comply with the regulations.

Hospital librarians can assist the health care community by providing information and education about HIPAA. The encapsulation of current implementation information will enable librarians to offer value-added services to HIPAA task forces and other health care practitioners.

The author gratefully acknowledges Stephanie John, AHIP, Saginaw Health Sciences Library, Saginaw Cooperative Hospitals, Saginaw, MI, for her assistance with this article.

Veterinary medicine is the science that specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the diseases of domestic animals and the management of other animal disorders. The field also correlates with broader disease prevention and control, particulary diseases that are transmissible between animals and humans or affecting human welfare. This resource guide will assist veterinary health professionals as well as pet owners.

Four years ago, PinnacleHealth System hired its first chief information officer (CIO) and vice-president for informatics. Since then, the organization has undergone significant internal and external changes, including a merger with two area hospitals. For some time, there had been interest in moving the library from its organizational position in the Department of Education and Development to the Information Services (IS) Department. Soon after the arrival of the CIO, this reorganization happened.

Reporting to and being supported by the CIO has resulted in increased visibility for the library and garnered the support of upper-level management and the IS department. At the same time, library staff have positioned themselves to take prominent roles in the use and delivery of information technologies.

One librarian completed a certification course a year ago to qualify as Web manager for the organization’s intranet. Within a short time, the intranet has been developed into an integral information center for the organization. Next year, the library will also be involved in designing a public Website for PinnacleHealth System.

Collaboration Between Groups

When it became evident that the Personal Computer (PC) User’s Group was duplicating some of the computer training offered informally by the librarians, we approached the group and suggested collaboration. This resulted in an expanded array of classes organized by the new Library Services and PC User’s Group Committee. Volunteer instructors from the library and departments, such as Finance and the Learning Institute, now offer classes on software including Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer and topics such as “Finding Quality Health Information on the Internet.” Employee interest continues to increase, and feedback on class evaluation forms is very positive.

To supplement locally offered classes, we contacted InfoSource University (now How To Master) about their new Web-based training product. In exchange for participating in a beta test as their first large corporate client, we were able to negotiate a reasonable price for the training modules.

To support these enhanced staff training opportunities, we requested funds to renovate a space adjacent to the library for a Computer Training Center. After two years of effort, the funds were granted, and the new room was completed in September 2000 with sixteen workstations, a ceiling-mounted LCD projector, dimmable lighting, a whiteboard, and a retractable screen. A library staff person, who also teaches some classes, manages the Computer Training Center. Volunteer instructors will continue to teach classes, and a half-time paid trainer has been requested for fiscal year 2002/2003.

Being part of this endeavor has been rewarding for library staff while adding value to PinnacleHealth System.