Google Glass is now available in the U.K.

United States physicians have had the advantages of Google Glass for the past year.  Glass just recently was released for use in the U.K.

Kathi Browne of BrowneKnows, a well known social media moderator on Health Care Talk had the opportunity to discuss the promise of Google Glass for users and developers in the U.K.  In this Google Hangout several medical developers discuss their use and plans for Google Glass.

Now that Google Glass has been made available to the UK, we are seeing many new Glass explorers stepping forward in  +Giannis Anastasiadis  is interested in developing healthcare Glassware. If you have an idea you wish someone would develop for Glass, share it. For those of you who wish to become Glass Explorers,

While Google Glass is not yet  HIPAA compliant there are  developer plans to make it so. Currently Glass users must receive permission from patients if it is used for them. The potential for use of Glass in Healthcare is enormous, more than I want to cover in this post, and will be listed elsewhere (as of September 30, 2014. 

The current iteration of  google glass has some limitations for medical use. It currently has not been cleared as a 'biomedical device', requiring specific adminstrative consent for use in a health facility, for reasons of legal liability. It is a small and powerful computer, generating much heat and was designed for very short bursts of information rather that a continuous use video recorder.

If you are a physician,  surgeon or a google glass developer, we would like to hear from you, for either a post or a Google Hangout Conference.

One in 10 U.S. Residents Affected by Large Health Data Breaches

Monday, June 16, 2014

TOPIC ALERT:

• Privacy and Security

Click on topic to receive periodic emails.

More than 1,000 medical record breaches involving 500 or more people have been reported to HHS since federal reporting requirements took effect nearly five years ago, according to HHS,Modern Healthcare's "Vital Signs" reports (Conn, "Vital Signs,"Modern Healthcare, 6/13).

HHS has been tracking data breaches since September 2009, when the HIPAA breach notification rule went into effect. The agency reports health information breaches affecting more than 500 individuals on its "wall of shame" website (iHealthBeat, 4/1).

Since 2009, HHS has received:

• 1,026 reports of breaches involving 500 or more individuals; and
• More than 116,000 breach reports involving records of fewer than 500 individuals through March 1, 2013.

In total, large health data breaches reported by health care providers and their business associates have affected the medical records of about one in 10 U.S. residents, or 31.7 million people. 

Meanwhile, more than 32,600 HIPAA complaint cases have been investigated, with more than 22,500 of them closing with corrective action, according to HHS Office for Civil Rights spokesperson Rachel Seeger ("Vital Signs," Modern Healthcare, 6/13)

Privacy Penalties on the Rise

In related news, HHS Chief Regional Civil Rights Counsel Jerome Meites at an American Bar Association Conference last week said he expects penalties under HIPAA to increase drastically in the next year, The Hill reports.

Since June 2013, HHS has received more than $10 million for HIPAA violations, according toLaw360. However, Meites said, "I suspect that that number will be low compared [with] what's coming up" (Viebeck, The Hill, 6/13).

Many EMR and EHR services are cloud based, and dependent upon internet connectivity.  Despite HIPAA we can expect breaches from otherwise secure sites. It is important to notify patients when breaches occur.

Health Reform to 2014 and Beyond or Back to the Future

The More You Understand About the 2014 Changes,  The Better.

If you had not noticed.

I am retired from clinical practice, and  admit I miss seeing patients.  My career goals have changed as some of you have noticed.

During the last decade I became interested in health information technology and set out to communicate with fellow professionals.  Readers of Health Train Express and it's predecessor will see an evolution, beginning with electronic medical records, health information exchange, health reform, mobile health applications, remote monitoring, and telehealth. They all serve to integrate our health communications for providers and patients.

During the last 12 months I was diverted by the Affordable Care Act and  the promises of Accountable Care Act. The potential for these new paradigms are great, however the day to day activities of providers and hospitals will  increase their load, and without additonal reimbursements. Providers have been expected to make huge capital outlays for health IT, design,implement and use these new systems.  They are directed at reductions in reimbursements to allow the large growth in patient access.  i doubt whether there will ber an actual decrease in the gross outlays for health care.  However during the past two years there have been reports of a decrease in the rate of growth.

There are some key actions to implement changes:  These webinars are designed to address specific areas that will require action.

Understanding Payment Reform - Beyond Fee For Service 

In the past decade there were some pre-paid and capitated models. The new paradigm is to approach payments connected to outcomes.  How they will be measured is open to great debate, and the subject should be addressed actively and with transparency before changes are made to avoid a catastophe such as the Health.gov benefit exchanges.  Some of these issues may be addressed by a 'global fee to hospitals and providers and/or medical groups as part and parcel of integrated medical systems.

Understanding The 2014 EHR Incentive Program 

The webinar addresses objective information for non-acute providers,practice and clinics on how to prepare for 2014 changes to the CMS EHR Incentiviei Programs.

An ICD-10 GEMS Crosswalk Overview

GEMS is a term which most providers are not familiar. CMS on it's web site offers these white papers. 

• 2013 General Equivalence Mappings - Diagnosis Codes and Guide [ZIP, 583KB]
• 
  

     The compressed zip files contain 3 white papers.

     The Dxgem file addresses specifics of conversion from ICD9 to ICD10.

MDs Everywhere's Vice-President of Development, Doug Salas explains the impact of 14,000 ICD codes expanding to 70,000 will have on documenting

Understanding HIPAA Requirements and Safety Measures 

HIPAA has been around since the mid 1990'. Providers have always known the standards of ehtical private confidentiality.  HIPAA was designed for others, institutions who deal with large amounts of patient health and financial data.  Penalties and fines are impressively high and the law has been enforced agains several large hospitals and other custodians of health records.

Recording and Archived:  (In case  you cannot attend the webinar at it's schedule time) At the time of registration you will receive a link and a date, which can be downloaded to an Outlook  .ics file.

All of the webinars will be archived for later viewing

HIPAA COMPLIANT GOOGLE + HANGOUTS

Google announces Helpouts: the Hangout that’s so good you’ll pay for it

This service marries the video chat features of Hangouts with the payment processing of Google Wallet, the identity management of Google+, and a slew of other Google service features. The end result is a gorgeous Frankenstein monster that lets you find expert help instantly via video.

Google + Helpouts is its own separate division within Google, but it uses all existing Google technologies.  And actually the service is free unless you charge for it.  Google's take is 20%.  The helpouts are scheduled or on demand.   

Many providers have been asking if Google + hangouts are HIPAA compliant. Up until now the answer has been 'no'.   Now for a charge it can be.  Further details are forthcoming from Google.

The challenges for telemedicine have been several. 1. Cost. 2. Non-reimbursement due to insurance limitations 3. Lack of an easily accessible platform.

Previous offerings have included expensive contracting with a telehealth provider. 

Providers and patients are now aware of new resources to provide an additional component to home health and alternative to time consuming  office visits.

Google also announced an API for Google Helpouts. For more information, Google hosts a 'help' tutorial.

Several medical offices and clinics may be available in your area.  Note that this service is so new that you should verify their participation.  It is not necessary to have a visit initially, however in many states,  for you to receive treatment advice law prohibits telemedicine treatment other than in an advisory capacity.

One Medical Group (Beverly Hills)

Meet the Doctors

• Michelle Grotz-Rhone, MD
• Bruce Olmscheid, MD
• Aarti Kulkarni, MD

There are other participating One Medical Groups in  San Francisco, New York,  Boston and Washington, D.C.