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NEW TECHNOLOGY


ONC unveils new videos empowering patients to learn their rights under HIPAA As part of the 2016 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technol- ogy (ONC) Annual Meeting, ONC unveiled a series of consumer-oriented videos about the rights patients have to access their health information, as well as a Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers designed to help clini- cians and office staff better engage patients through the use of health IT. The final day of the meeting was focused on empowering individuals to become better partners in their health and care. “Many people are not fully aware of their


right to access their own medical records under the Health Insurance Portability and Account- ability Act (HIPAA), including the right to access a copy when their health information is stored electronically,” said Lucia Savage, J.D., ONC’s chief privacy officer. “The videos we released today highlight the basics for individuals to get access to their electronic health information and direct it where they wish, including to third party applications.” The videos released were produced by ONC


in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The videos highlight what an individual needs to know about their rights to access their health information. The first video describes the basics of the HIPAA access regulation, including what medical records are, when access is allowed, and when a provider may not share information, such as if a bill has not been paid. The second video takes a deeper dive into


what incurred costs are acceptable and an expected wait time for copies of the records. The third video takes a look at the rights of indi- viduals to ask that their information be shared with a third party, such as family members. The Playbook is part of ONC’s effort to


develop more user-friendly tools that can help clinicians and other providers in sharing health information with their patients. The Playbook outlines considerations for engaging patients with health IT, including best practices and case studies which clinicians and their office staff can utilize to enhance their efforts to use health IT to better engage their patients. This first edition of the Playbook centers


primarily on the use of patient portals and information to: • facilitate easy enrollment to achieve greater portal adoption;


• meet patient needs online, while also streamlin- ing practice workflow;


• involve caregivers in an appropriate way; and • integrate patient-generated health data to improve clinical decision-making and care. Visit ONC for the playbook: https://www.healthit.gov/playbook/pe/.


PRODUCTS & SERVICES Striving for ship, ship


hooray! moments Freight and shipping management can generate easy wins after difficult searches by Rick Dana Barlow


L


et’s face it: For many Supply Chain pro- fessionals freight and shipping matters may not be as scintillating a function to


manage as, say, product evaluations, value analysis projects or dare we mention inven- tory data cleansing?


While freight and shipping may not pique


interest, mismanagement and negligence can generate a peak in the expense column and scorn from the C-suite. It also remains a topic drawing interest around budget times. Freight and shipping represent one of those so-called “low-hanging fruit” opportunities that inspire yawns and motivate many Supply Chain pros to reach beyond for some reason. Whether esoteric or mundane, freight and shipping is a task that must be fulfilled as a key component of supply chain operations driven by materials, pricing and services. Supply Chain pros saw their pulses ac- celerate a bit in the first quarter of this year as prices for fuel, then containerboard and linerboard declined. Their pulses revved more when freight and shipping prices failed to follow suit. After all, such a domino effect seems logical, right? Maybe not.


“While these prices have declined, there is still a lot of concern for their volatility,” said Christopher DiBernardi, Director, Business & Product Development Healthcare, Ryder. “For one thing, fuel prices are begin- ning to rise again. There is also an increasing cost to operate — from driver and warehouse worker salaries to the manufacturing of goods. So a decrease in the price of fuel is just one variable in the equa- tion.”


Christopher DiBernardi


Jake Crampton, Founder and CEO, Med- Speed LLC, expressed mild surprise that the economics didn’t pan out.


“It is unclear to me why freight and ship- ping prices wouldn’t decrease with the decrease in fuel prices,” Crampton said.


48 July 2016 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


“We believe in a reciprocal approach to fuel costs. We work with our clients to establish ranges around the prevailing fuel charge in the region and set surcharge and rebate targets when prices exceed or drop below that range.”


Jake Crampton


Still, Marc Mullen, Vice President and General Manager of OptiFreight Logistics, a Cardinal Health company, said he believes the industry is benefiting overall from these pricing moves. “Aggregate freight costs


have benefited from declin- ing fuel costs,” he indicated. “These reductions are re- flected in the historically low fuel surcharges from this past year, even hitting zero lately. This represents significant savings for ship- ments and freight.”


Marc Mullen


Brandin Parrett, Vice President of Opera- tions, Onsite Management Group LLC, of- fered a few reasons why Freight and shipping prices are not following suit and decreasing in line with fuel, containerboard and linerboard, the largest and most obvious of which is the “ability for shippers to increase revenue in a very competitive market.


Brandin Parrett


“While this might seem opportunistic, and in some cases might be, the stronger economic growth has increased demand for cargo space while the number of drivers is quickly shrinking,” Parrett continued. “This provides an added element to the competiveness of the shipping companies to provide better benefits to retain valued employees. Salaries and healthcare are one aspect, but you must also take into consideration the new regula- tions that limit driving hours as well, therefore increasing delivery times and/or the need for more drivers to keep up with the demand. All


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