About Health Information Management & Technology
California hospitals are committed to making health information easy to share so that patients and providers can make better informed decisions. This coordination leads to better health outcomes for patients and more efficient health care for all. CHA produces the California Health Information Privacy Manual to help hospitals ensure compliance with myriad state and federal laws.
Change Healthcare Cyberattack Raises Privacy Breach Implications
What’s happening: CHA has analyzed public information to help hospitals better understand privacy implications stemming from the Change Healthcare cyberattack in late February.
What else to know: The cyberattack raises the question of whether affected hospitals must report a breach to patients or to government officials under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or state breach reporting laws.
President Biden Releases FY 2025 Budget Request
What’s happening: President Biden submitted his fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget request to Congress.
What else to know: The budget is a blueprint of the administration’s priorities and is not legislation.
Payment Program Announced for Providers Affected by Change Healthcare Cyberattack
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided details on Medicare advance and accelerated payments for providers affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
What else to know: Impacted hospitals should apply through their Medicare administrative contractor (MAC).
CMS Issues Enforcement Discretion Guidance for Prior Authorization Standards
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued enforcement discretion guidance for entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) that are implementing certain prior authorization application programming interfaces (APIs).
What else to know: This is in response to finalized policies to advance interoperability and electronic prior authorization processes.
CMS Announces Flexibilities for Providers Impacted by Change Healthcare Hack
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a statement outlining the flexibilities it is offering to providers impacted by the Change Healthcare data breach.
What else to know: CHA is closely following this issue and will provide updates on additional steps CMS is taking as they become available.
CHA Shares Updates on Change Healthcare Cyberattack
What’s happening: Hospitals and health systems operations continue to be impacted by the cyberattack on Change Healthcare.
What else to know: CHA supports AHA’s recommendations urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take steps to mitigate the impact on providers experiencing issues with claims processing and pharmacy operations.
House Leaders Form Bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
What’s happening: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have formed a new bipartisan task force focused on artificial intelligence.
What else to know: Several of the task force members are actively involved in health care policy.
CMS Updates Hospital Guidance for Texting Patient Info
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated guidance for hospitals and critical access hospitals related to texting patient information.
What else to know: Hospitals should use a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant secure texting platform that complies with Medicare and Medicaid conditions of participation.
Changes Finalized to Substance Use Disorder Record Sharing Rules
What’s happening: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued long-awaited regulations implementing changes to requirements for sharing substance use disorder (SUD) patient data.
What else to know: The CHA-supported regulations are intended to better align SUD record-sharing rules with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements.