Observations from the Legal Trenches

Keep Calm and Carry On

The British World War II morale boosting slogan, “Keep Calm and Carry On” seemed a fitting way to begin 2017. While there has been plenty of speculation on the fate of the Affordable Care Act it is much too early to make any predictions other than things will be changing but when and how remains to be seen. Additionally, the 2017 state legislative session has just begun which may bring additional changes to the healthcare landscape as the session continues. In the midst of the uncertain changes that lie ahead, the only thing to do for the moment is to carry on and address the developments in healthcare regulations as they come.

Looking at the here and now, one thing that is here to stay are Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Last October I addressed some issues related to EHR, specifically the use of auto-populate fields and copy and paste function. While this issue is certainly not a hot topic in most discussions related to healthcare, the potential risks related to the overuse of copy and paste functions were significant enough that in September 2016 the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine issued guidelines related to the use such functions in EHR systems. While the guidelines are fairly brief, they do provide practitioners some helpful points that are worth a quick look: http://www.maine.gov/md/laws-statutes/policies.html.

While Maine is one of the only medical boards to have issued such guidelines, other entities including, but not limited to, the Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have also issued advisory statements and guidelines for using EHR functions such as copy and paste and auto-populate. Links to these guidelines can be found below.

https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/23/Quick_Safety_Issue_10.pdf https://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Fraud-Prevention/Medicaid-Integrity-Education/Downloads/ehr-decision-table.pdf

As I mentioned in October 2016, accurate medical records can be a deciding factor in both administrative board actions and civil malpractice cases; reviewing available guidelines about the proper use of certain EHR functions by both practitioners and their staffs can be a short investment of time that can have lasting benefits.
Ms. Beggs, of the Law Offices of Lyn E. Beggs, PLLC, focuses her practice primarily on administrative and professional licensing board issues, focusing on healthcare providers. Ms. Beggs holds a CHC (Certified in Healthcare Compliance) and also assists practices with healthcare compliance matters including fraud and abuse prevention and HIPAA compliance. Ms. Beggs may be reached at 775-432-1918 or at [email protected].