One City Built to Last

y peter suciu
Compliance is Key for Health Care Industry
Affects more than just care providers
While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called
the Affordable Care Act, or even “Obamacare,” has gotten much media attention
– and no less scrutiny – it has widely overshadowed the Health Information Technology
for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009. That law may
not affect individuals, but for those in the health care industry, including businesses
working with health care providers, it presents new challenges.
Jonathan P. Tomes, president of
EMR Legal, has a unique background
enabling him to guide his
clients through the complex web that
is the HITECH Act to make certain that
they're compliant.
“The HITECH Act in 2009 said that
all business associates must comply
with the same compliance rules as covered
entities – or face the same civil
and criminal liabilities as do covered
entities,” Tomes told The Suit Magazine.
“They're subject to the same audits
by Health and Human Services.”
Moreover, he added that this includes
businesses – from collection
agencies to companies that do medical
billing – which may not be directly involved
in providing health care.
Tomes would be the one to know. He
joined the Army during the Vietnam
War. Later, he was stationed in Europe
during the Cold War and did military
intelligence work before moving on to
human intelligence, which provided
him with a practical background.
“It is the same principle for protecting
health information that you would
use for defense information,” he added.
The Army sent Tomes to law school
to help defend the military against
malpractice cases and then taught law
at the Chicago College of Law. As an
expert in administrative law, he began
to conduct seminars around the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act – and in the late1990s formed
EMR Legal, where he now works with
dozens of medical practices, hospitals
and long term care facilities. “It has
grown,” Tomes admitted. “I certainly
didn't start out intending to be a HI-
PAA consultant, but it has worked out
very well.”
He stressed that compliance is key
for anyone even remotely involved in
the health care industry. Clients need
to do more than pay lip service to
compliance, and this often involves a
working relationship – one where the
client is tasked with making sure that
they do everything that is required.
“They can't just expect me to get
them magically compliant in a short
period of time. It doesn't work that
way,” Tomes stressed. “There is a lot
of competition out there. There are
other HIPAA consultants, but very
few of them have the legal background
to combine with the practical background.
We also have a consulting
team, which includes a great technical
crew that can do a penetration test of
the electronic health system of a major
hospital.”
The keys to compliance, however,
still reside with the client.
Tomes emphasized, “The single most
important thing that I stress when I'm
giving a HIPAA presentation or starting
a compliance program is getting
the risk analysis done. That is one of
the main areas to look in preventing a
civil or monetary settlement.”
EMR LEGAL, INC.
7111 West 98th Terrace, Ste 140
Overland Park, Kansas 66212
www.emrlegal.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.33