Jeff Lagasse

Only 30 percent of respondents to a recent poll want the Affordable Care Act repealed, as Republican contenders Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are promising. Another 30 percent support expanding the law, which Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have said they will do. 

The health system credits clinical and financial improvements to a CDI initiative that resulted in more accurate coding and greater physician engagement. 

Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic of North Carolina will pay $750,000 to settle charges that it violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy Rule. The group allegedly handed over protected health information for approximately 17,300 patients to a potential business partner without first executing a business associate agreement. HIPAA-covered entities cannot disclose protected health information without authorization, and the lack of a business associate agreement left this information without safeguards, rendering it potentially vulnerable to misuse or improper disclosure.  [See them all: 10 stubborn cybersecurity myths, busted] Raleigh Orthopaedic is a provider group practice that operates clinics and an orthopedic surgery center in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. The Office of Civil Rights, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, launched its investigation of Raleigh Orthopaedic following receipt of a breach report on April 30, 2013. The investigation found that Raleigh Orthopaedic released X-ray films and related protected health information of 17,300 patients to a group that promised to transfer the images to electronic media in exchange for harvesting the silver from the X-ray films. Raleigh Orthopedic allegedly failed to execute a business associate agreement with this company prior to turning over the X-rays and health information. [Also: OCR unleashes second wave of HIPAA audits, but will it diminish patients' privacy and security expectations?] In addition to the $750,000 payment, Raleigh Orthopaedic is required to revise its policies and procedures to establish a process for assessing whether entities are business associates. It is also required to designate a "responsible individual" to ensure business associate agreements are in place prior to disclosing public health information to a business associate; create a standard template business associate agreement; and establish a standard process for maintaining documentation of business associate agreements for at least six years beyond the date of termination of such a relationship. The group also must limit disclosures of personal health information to any business associate to the minimum necessary to accomplish the purpose for which it was hired. [Also: Tips for detecting ransomware and other malware before it cripples your network] "HIPAA's obligation on covered entities to obtain business associate agreements is more than a mere check-the-box paperwork exercise," OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels said in a statement. "It is critical for entities to know to whom they are handing personal health information and to obtain assurances that the information will be protected." Twitter: @JELagasse

Theranos, the embattled blood testing startup, is now under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, according to Bloomberg. The investigation is the latest in a series of hardships for the once-vaunted company, coming on the heels of a recommendation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that founder Elizabeth Holmes be banned from the blood testing business for a two-year period. In March, a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that cholesterol test results obtained through Theranos – which are drawn from small finger pricks – were much different than those from large laboratory companies, implying that doctors' medical decisions could be thrown off by results acquired through Theranos technology. [Also: Theranos results differed from Quest, LabCorp enough to impact care decisions, study finds] In all, Theranos' results for total cholesterol were found to be an average 9.3 percent lower than those obtained through clinical laboratories Quest and LabCorp, according to the March study. This has lead researchers to surmise that in some instances, doctors may inappropriately begin, or fail to begin, statin therapy, a drug-based regimen that aims to prevent heart disease. The investigation by the SEC, which ensures companies give accurate information to investors, was one of several described in a memo from Theranos (once valued at $9 billion) obtained by Bloomberg. The memo was originally furnished to Theranos' partners including Walgreen's, which has reportedly been looking to cut ties with the startup. "The company continues to work closely with regulators and is cooperating fully with all investigations," Theranos officials said. Before the federal investigations were announced Monday, Holmes appeared on NBC's Today show to say she was "devastated" that her lab did not discover its deficiencies. Holmes also said Theranos would rebuild its lab from scratch to avoid future problems. In addition to suggesting that Holmes be temporarily banned from the industry, CMS has proposed a number of other sanctions, including revocation of Theranos' Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 certificate – or, alternatively, a civil monetary penalty of $10,000 per day for each day of non-compliance. Theranos could delay the effective date of the sanctions by filing an appeal. Twitter: @JELagasse Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

The hospital that gained notoriety earlier this year for paying criminals $17,000 in ransomware attack is now set to build a new emergency department and campus beautification work. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has warned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes that the company could face serious sanctions after the startup failed to address numerous problems with its technology and practices.

The authors of a Health Affairs report also suggested that policymakers could use Yelp to identify which quality measures are most important to doctors and patients. 

Healthcare leaders are focused on the potentially conflicting market forces as rising consumer expectations and care transformation are reshaping the industry, according to the Advisory Board Company.  

Price transparency tools can help patients make more educated purchasing decisions. But they must include information on both cost and quality to be effective. 

The company suspended testing, hired three board certified pathologist to run its lab, and publicly vowed to work with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to resolve the issues.