On May 31, 2017, the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that eClinicalWorks (ECW) agreed to pay a $155 million settlement and enter a corporate integrity agreement with the OIG to resolve allegations that ECW caused its health care provider customers to submit false Medicare and Medicaid claims for meaningful use payments in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA). Under the corporate integrity agreement, ECW agreed to strict compliance and reporting obligations and to provide the latest version of ECW’s EHR software to each of ECW’s current customers free of charge. Continue reading
Category Archives: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (OCR)
OCR Phase 2 HIPAA Audits Have Begun: Are you Ready?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has started a second phase of audits for compliance with HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Standards. The OCR has previously conducted an audit pilot phase and Phase 1 audits of HIPAA covered entities (i.e., healthcare providers, clearinghouses, and health plans). In this Phase 2 of the HIPAA audits, OCR will audit both covered entities and their business associates. Continue reading