Health Care News New hand washing guidelines for Health Care (CDC/NIOSH) Joint Commission Calls for Community
Mobilization to Develop Emergency Response Capabilities for Terrorist Attacks NCQA, JCAHO Sign Letter of Intent To Discuss Collaborating On Privacy Certification Program
For Business Associates Joint Commission Calls for Community Mobilization to Develop Emergency Response Capabilities for Terrorist Attacks Telephone News Conference Replay The Emergency Preparedness telephone news conference held on March 12, 2003 is now available for review on Conference Replay. To
access call toll-free 800-858-5309 (International access - U.S. country code followed by 334-323-7226) and follow the simple instructions. The "ACCESS CODE" for this particular call is 40706. You will need to then enter the "PASS CODE" of 18552. News Release - Joint Commission Urges
Creation Of Community Emergency Preparedness Programs Health Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Community-wide Emergency Preparedness Systems
(This document is available as Portable Document File - PDF and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.) Preamble to Health Care at the Crossroads: Stategies for Creating and Sustaining Community-wide Emergency Preparedness SystemsIntroduction to Health Care at the Crossroads: Stategies for Creating and Sustaining Community-wide Emergency Preparedness SystemsBiographies of Telephone News Conference Participants: - Dennis S. O'Leary, M.D., President,
JCAHO
- Mark Smith, M.D., Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, Washington Hospital Center
- Edward J. Gabriel, M.P.A., EMT-P, Deputy Commissioner, New York City Office of Emergency Management, Chief, Emergency Medical Services, New York Fire Department
- Mark G. Ackermann, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Officer, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York
- Kristi L. Koenig, M.D., FACEP, Director, Emergency Management Strategic Healthcare Group, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Emergency Preparedness Roundtable Members Facts About the Joint Commission's Public Policy Initiative Facts About Emergency Management Special Issue of Perspectives (November 2001) - Emergency Management in the New Millennium Facts About Emergency Management Standards JCAHO Emergency Management Standards NCQA, JCAHO Sign Letter of Intent To Discuss Collaborating On Privacy Certification Program
For Business Associates For More Information:
Brian Schilling or Barry Scholl, NCQA: (202) 955-5104 or (202) 955-5197
Charlene D. Hill, JCAHO: (630) 792-5175 Program will certify that business associates appropriately safeguard protected health information WASHINGTON and OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.—The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) today announced that
they have signed a Letter of Intent to explore a possible collaboration to offer a Privacy Certification Program for Business Associates. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 establishes specific expectations for “covered entities” and “business associates” in limiting access to protected health information (PHI). The planned program would evaluate applicant business associates to determine whether they
are meeting standards for safeguarding PHI based on the HIPAA privacy regulation. “Collaborating with JCAHO on this program will promote efficient, consistent privacy oversight across diverse sectors of the health care system,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “All of us in health care bear the responsibility of keeping protected health information safe, and a collaborative effort will help more organizations
meet their end of the privacy bargain.” "We are very pleased to be working together with NCQA on another joint evaluation venture,” said Dennis S. O’Leary, M.D., Joint Commission president. “Confidentiality of patient information has long been a high priority of both organizations.” NCQA released draft standards for a privacy certification program in December 2002.
JCAHO served on the advisory committee that developed those standards. The final standards for the program, scheduled for release in mid-May, will track closely with the final HIPAA privacy regulations. Program requirements will relate to: - privacy protections for oral, written and electronic PHI
- processes and practices for the storage, use and disclosure of PHI
- employee training in PHI protections
- consumer access to PHI
- contracting between covered entities and their business associates.
Any business associate that handles PHI for health plans, providers or health care clearinghouses would be eligible for the program.
Such entities include, but are not limited to, software firms; health care IT firms; data collection, analysis and processing firms; practice management firms; third-party administrators; disease management organizations and survey vendors. Over the next 45 days, the two organizations plan to work together to reach final agreement on the details of the joint venture. Program launch is anticipated following release of the final standards.
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