Health Care Law

Grand Rounds 3.5

Monday, October 23, 2006

Ohhhhh . . . Tuesday Morning . . . feels like a hangover. I'm finally coming down from the caffeine buzz of last weeks Grand Rounds hosted by Kim at Emergiblog. I'm in withdraw after a week of working on the incredible submissions for this week's edition of the best from the medical blogosphere. Actually, I'm looking more like Ground Round! I should have heded Kim's advice - but you know it's difficult for lawyers to take advice.

Lawyers are known for their written and verbal communication but any good defense trial lawyer knows that a photo is worth a thousand words. Hmmm . . . photos . . . theme? Photos tell a story. Photos enhance the story. Social interaction adds value to content. Social networking is content. Using Flickr within a theme? How will online social networking change the landscape of medicine and health? Just some thoughts.

It's a fascinating time to watch the evolution of online social interaction these days and discuss its impact on the health care industry. Not long ago we were all using the internet as a static place to obtain information. Listserves, bulletin boards and early individual blogs became the first generation of social networking. Soon came the growth of more blogs on specialized topics, more interaction, community blogs and carnivals, like Grand Rounds -- all mediums that allow sharing of information and knowledge in a decentralized process, providing a forum for feedback, comments, discussion and disagreement. Lately we are seeing the next generation develop. Two health care examples are Organized Wisdom, a collaborative health information resource, which allows patients and professionals to share health experiences in a learning environment, and Sermo, which allows physicians to consult with colleagues, share clinical observations, challenge or corroborate each other's opinions (for pay) and accelerate the emergence of trends and new insights on medications, devices and treatments, building open, collaborative health care. What next? It's Your World, Your Imagination. What about Second Life Medical? or Project Virtual Hospital?

Flickr , an online social photo sharing service was one of the early web 2.0 success stories. As an experiment to add value to content I've used "keyword" links for each submission. For example, check out alzheimers, new drug or insulin pump. I urge you to drill down and explore some the photo links, comments on the photos and consider how the photos change your impression of the written posts. On with the rounds . . .

First the Host's Favorites . . .

BREAD: From the don't always believe what you see department comes a post at Unbounded Medicine about a Thai student who bakes human being parts out of bread. Yum . . . .

YUPIK: The TundraPA at Tundra Medicine Dreams shares with us the experience of death, funeral, family, and feast as a Yupik Eskimo village loses one of its members in a post called A Village Funeral.

FISH: A fishy topic is on the line at DiseaseProof. In Gone Fishing Again, Gerald Pugliese contemplates a recent article in The Los Angeles Times, pointing out that even the EPA acknowledges the confusion over fish consumption. Mr. Pugliese utilizes Dr. Fuhrman's past comments to add more to the fish tale. Dr. Emer at Parallel Universes is also fishing around this controversy with To Eat or Not To Eat Fish.

DEATH: From The Differential: Medscape Med Students, Ali Tabatabaey, an Iranian medical student, confronts death in The First Patient Death Leaves Its Mark. At why am i still here? a third year medical student confronts whether she would want extravagant measures taken if it were her 16-year-old daughter.

COMPETITION: Dmitriy Kruglyak, at the Medical Blog Network, takes a close look at what's left for hospitals in the current competitive environment in The Shifting Basis of Hospital Competition.

FOOD: I've got the rumblies in my tumblies. May I take your order please? Emergiblog covers the etiquette of ordering food in the ER in Here to Save Your Derrieere, Not Feed It.

The Best of the Rest . . .

FEET: From the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone comes The Foot Blog. A new community blog started this month covering everything for the podiatry community, a great example of a community blog modeling the long tail toe theory.

DIABETES: Amy Tenderich at Diabetes Mine announces the ultimate diabetic "extreme (medical) makeover" in her post Pimp Your Diabetes. A D-Dream Team has been put together and the progress of the individuals will be tracked at Diabetes Mine. Amy also provides a one blog mini-seminar on the thyroid in Hello, Mr. Thyroid and questions all the buzz on the new wireless monitoring devices for diabetes in Remote Control Diabetes? Not.

SPINE: The Science Creative Quarterly by Prashant Nair covers spinal injuries in Spinal Injuries: So many ways to strike a chord. The article made this lawyer confront the altered existence lived by victims of spinal injuries and their hopes for the future. But consider Mark Zupan and don't miss Murderball.

HIPAA: The HIPAA Blog covers the latest recommendations by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics . HIPAA may no longer just apply to "covered entities." All that hard work of creating business associate agreements might be for not.

CATHOLIC: Dr. Lei at Genetics Health interviews Catholic genetics blogger, Rebecca Taylor. Ms. Taylor, a clinical laboratory technologist in molecular biology at a Catholic hospital blogs at Mary Meet Dolly, where the world of genetics and genetic engineering (Dolly) meets the teachings of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of life (Mary). Mary Meets Dolly resonates with many people feeling alienated because most science and medicine bloggers are largely atheist or agnostic.

SHOPPING: Comparision shopping, Canada vs. Israel, comes your way via InsureBlog's post titled Isrameds. Canada isn't the only "foreign" country offering discount medications. If you've got a hankerin' for strictly kosher meds, Bob Vineyard has your source. The InsureBlog also has some surprising stats on "What Bothers People About Their Own Health Care" and a followup post poll.

INTUBATED: Homeschooledmedstudent confronts her own sadness and helplessness in Lingering, about an intubated, terminally ill patient.

POLICY: Matthew Holt covers the Six Dirty Little Health Care Secrets of health care.

AUTISM: Dr. Deborah Serani posts Gene Mutation Linked to Risk of Autism highlights further genetic underpinnings for Autism in a study coming out of Vanderbilt University that will be featured in the upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

DIAGNOSIS: From the "What's Your Diagnosis?" category comes Failure to thrive in a 20-month-old from Rural Pediatrics. The case report involves a 20-month-old toddler with a one-year history of poor weight gain and large, mushy, smelly stools. Turns out the diagnosis was chronic Giardia infection due to likely becoming infected from playing in a mountain stream while his parents gold-panned. The full article can be obtained from Infectionus Disease in Children.

NEW DRUG: Straightfromthedoc discusses Duke University researchers' efforts to significantly prolong the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug by modifying a drug called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. The engineered drug is potentially useful for providing longer-lasting treatment for osteoarthritis. Gloria Garnat also writes about the recently USFDA-approved drug, ARICEPT, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, at The Pharm Voice.

WELLNESS : Musing about the (un)balanced nature of Wellness is Dr. Rob Lamberts' post at Musings of a Distractible Mind. Dr. Lamberts asks the question "does wellness really exist?" and concludes that the physician's role is to "relate to our patients as they go through life and not treat them as a project to complete."

ALZHEIMERS: Mona Johnson at The Tangled Neuron highlights current studies of those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and the ongoing efforts to better understand the early stages of dementia and Alzheimers. Why be tested for Alzheimer's when there is no effective treatment? Contribution to research and ultimately finding a cure for the disease. Ms. Johnson, who went through testing at the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, recommends participating in testing at a memory clinic, university, or Alzeimer's Disease Research Center so that the results can be used in future studies. West Virginia's own Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Center is leading a shift from laboratory tests to clinical trials.

WIKIPEDIA: Mnmonics Guy (MG) brings us CLMAA and a link to a Wikipedia page that includes volumes of medical acronyms and abbreviations. MG's post speculates that medical acronyms may be a dying art with the introduction of EHRs. MG also highlights the difference between acronyms and abbreviations. My favorite misspelled acronym is HIPPA.

HOSPITAL STORIES: Hospital Impact, authored by Tony Chen, shares the 2nd edition of Friday's Great Patient Stories with Great Patient Stories - Harry Potter, Hamburgers and Hemmorroids. Chen's initial post, along with my Pre-Rounds interview by Nick Genes,inspired me to start a new series of regular posts called The West Virginia Doctor.

STRETCHING: With advice on how not to over-stretch your back comes The Stretch You Need The Least from Dr. Jolie Bookspan at Healthline: The Fitness Fixer. Thanks, Doctor. Your submission was much needed advice after spending hours bent over my laptop working on Grand Rounds.

ODOR: A volunteer ER chaplain writes about wonderful ER odors in The Olfactory Tour at Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good.

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: In recognition that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Emer at Parallel Universes posts about statistics on breast cancer in the Phillipines, catching breast cancer early, and the importance of regular breast self-examination.

PEG Tubes: This week, Dr. Marcucci at Inside Surgery covers the surgical facts and details of Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tubes.

FDA: From the California Medicine Man comes the "story" behind Lester Crawford's departure as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the importance of the FDA maintaining integrity.

MEDICAL SCHOOL: Vitum Medicinus, who is journaling his experiences as he goes through medical school, reminds us of the excitement of practical learning and experience in the post Back in the Hospital: ER Shadowing.

CEO: At Running A Hospital the CEO asks, "How am I doing?" to which Kevin, M.D. responds pretty good job. Congratulations go out to the other blogging hospital CEO who details his trip to Northern Virginia to see Little Lucy for the first time.

VACCINES: Two posts on vaccines from PediatricsInfo . First, the FDA approved the rotavirus vaccine in Febuary 2006. Second, the MMR vaccine has been cleared from causing autistic disorders according to a trial published in the October 2006 issue of Pediatrics.

PERSONA: GruntDoc takes a look at his Work Persona.

BLOOD PRESSURE: South African medical student Karin Little, who blogs at Just Up The Dose, nostalgically remembers her first diagnosis in Thump-thump-thump as she winds down on her degree. Along the same vein comes Hypertension-Silent Killer with a hypertension quiz.

TUNNEL VISION: Wandering Vistor muses about viewing the tunnel from the outside in Are You Suffering from Tunnel Vision?

YUPIK: The TundraPA at Tundra Medicine Dreams shares with us the experience of death, funeral, family, and feast as a Yupik Eskimo village loses one of its members in a post called A Village Funeral.

STINGRAY: Dr. Paul Auerbach, at Medicine for the Outdoors, blogs about Another Stingray Attack reported last week in Florida which follows the tragic death of the Crocidile Hunter, Steve Erwin, in a similar unlikely incident.

CALIFORNIA: Nancy L. Brown, PhD, at Teen Health 411, provides insight into the confidentiality laws related to reproductive health care in California for minors and points out the practical issues related to information leaking through the billing process when the minor seeks care covered under her parent's insurance.

POVETRY: Borneo Breezes recognizes the contributions of Mohammed Yunus, a Bangaladeshi economist and founder of Grameem Bank, who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort at ending poverty through providing credit to the poorest of the poor.

INSULIN PUMP: Kerrie Morrone, a twenty-something type 1 diabetic, contemplates incorporating her insulin pump into the tangles of daily dressing in Insulin Pumping, After a Fashion.

JEFF GOLDBLUM: A Caribbean medical student blogging at the rumors were true explores his own science role model. Jeff Goldblum?

HORMONES: A four-part post on Hormone Replacement Therapy at The Blog That Ate Manhattan.

FLU: In his post, Pediatric Flu Vaccine Supply Delayed, Not a Shortage, Dr. Choi at Tech Medicine helps this lawyer understand why his two-year-old can't get her flu shot -- there is only one FDA-approved flu vaccine for children under three.

NFL: The NFL's Punitive Substance Abuse Policy covers Brett Farve's standing up to the NFL and its substance abuse policy after the suspension of Packer's wide receiver Koren Robinson.

RANT: Citing one of my all time favorite movies, Terry Gilliam's "Brazil," Digital Doorway rants about healthcare bureaucracy in Bureaucracy Now! --- A Rant. Is it Buttle or Tuttle? Also, ranting about medblog ranting comes Pointing The Finger from Medblogopathy.

INFORMATION: David Williams at The Health Business Blog provides us a link to the original piece titled, "Information Is The Answer," used by ABC News in its week-long series, Prescription for Change.

HALLOWEEN: The Family Fork: Feeding the Kids and You provides timely advice for choosing healthly alternatives as you prepare to make the Grand Rounds with the kids next Tuesday Night.

The question remains whether Dr. Hebert's Medical Gumbo will be cooking up tricks or treats as the host of Grand Rounds 3.6.

As the first health care lawyer to host Grand Rounds, I just want to say thanks to Nick Genes for giving me the opportunity to host from the hills of West Virginia. Thanks to the contributors who make Grand Rounds what it is -- a wonderfully eclectic collaboration of individuals and health professionals who share a breadth and depth of knowledge unmatched anywhere.

NOTE: I accidentally change the title of the Grand Rounds post which then automatically changed the permalink that was used in the Pre-Rounds Interview on Medscape. This created a dead link for all of these visitors coming from Medscape. To correct the problem I created a duplicate post of Grand Rounds here. You can read comments posted on the duplicate post here.

Keep An Eye Out For Grand Rounds 3.5

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The Unbounded Medicine byline reads, "Medicine as it must be: unlimited." A great perspective for those working in today's health care industry. Unbounded Medicine does a great job hosting this week's edition of Grand Rounds, the carnival of medical blogospere.

Next up, Kim at Emergiblog will be hosting the October 17th edition of Grand Rounds. After that, Grand Rounds 3.5 (October 24) will be hosted right here at Health Care Law Blog.

This will be my first go around at hosting the best of the medical blogs. I previously hosted Blawg Review, the lawyers carnival, and am excited about getting to host Grand Rounds. Week in and week out the content at Grand Rounds is excellent. If you've never read it -- make sure to take a look at some of the archive editions.

To submit a post for Grand Rounds 3.5, email me at bobcoffieldatgmail.com before October 22. Be sure to include the post's URL address, a short comment or summary about the post, your name and email address. You can also use Blog Carnival, which automates the process of submitting posts to various blogs. Just select Grand Rounds and complete the information requested.

The West Virginia Doctor #1: Baptism

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Over the last year I've toyed with the concept of a feature guest post or podcast recounting stories of West Virginia medicine reflected through the eyes of my dad, an 82 year old West Virgnia doctor. With help from my dad who has a knack for story telling the "West Virginia Doctor" Series is being born.

What prompted me to get this feature post started? By coincidence my dad sent me the story below at the same time I was thinking about the importance of Tony Chen's commentary at Hospital Impact seeking great patient stories. As the son of a small town doctor I've had the opportunity to experience and hear some great patient stories over the years. As I told Nick Genes, MD during his Pre-Rounds interview of me, these experiences from my childhood influence my approach to health care everyday.

Over the years I've heard wonderful medical stories told by my dad, LeMoyne Coffield, who practiced medicine from 1950 through 1993 in New Martinsville, West Virginia and his brother, Terrell Coffield, also a doctor who praticed alongside his brother in this same community. The stories run a full range -- some sad, some funny and some strange and unbelievable.

The story below was shared with me this past week and involves my grandfather, Albert Lee Coffield, who served this same small West Virginia community as a doctor from 1910 through 1936. The story takes place along the Ohio River at Duffy, Ohio which is just across the river from New Martinsville, West Virginia.

Back in the early 1930’s Dad had an old gentleman who lived in Duffy and had what he and the family thought was terminal lobar pneumonia. This was about 11 years before the discovery of penicillin. Lobar pneumonia ran a typical course; you had chills, high fever, cough with rusty sputum, shortness of breath and you would either die or it would resolve by lysis (slow resolution) or crisis (rapid resolution - with a sudden improvement and break of the fever).

During his illness the Ohio was flooded, ice cakes floating, and the ferry from New Martinsville not operating. Dad made a home call by rowboat and docked at the front porch. The old gentleman had never been baptized; the family were Disciples and wanted to carry this out by immersion. Water, water, everywhere but it was ice cold, and they knew he would die in their attempt to submerse him in the flooded river.

They solved the problem by pulling their row boat up on the front porch, filling it with partially warmed water, carrying the old man to the front porch, wrapped in blankets, and immersing him. They knew that such exposure in the bitter cold would be his death. They prayed over his chilled and shaking body but in a couple hours he rallied; fever subsided, got out of his deathbed and ate a hardy supper. He continued to improve and in a week or so miraculously back to good health.

GAO Report on Domestic & Offshore Outsourcing of Personal Information in Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE

Monday, October 9, 2006

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) recently issued a privacy report on Domestic and Offshore Outsourcing of Personal Information in Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.

Following is the summary of the Report findings.

Federal contractors and state Medicaid agencies widely reported domestic outsourcing of services involving the use of personal health information but little direct offshore outsourcing. Among those that completed GAO’s survey, more than 90 percent of Medicare contractors and state Medicaid agencies and 63 percent of TRICARE contractors reported some domestic outsourcing in 2005. Typically, survey groups reported engaging from 3 to 20 U.S. vendors (commonly known as subcontractors). One federal contractor and one state Medicaid agency reported outsourcing services directly offshore. However, some federal contractors and state Medicaid agencies also knew that their domestic vendors had initiated offshore outsourcing. Thirty-three Medicare Advantage contractors, 2 Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) contractors, and 1 Medicaid agency indicated that their domestic vendors transfer personal health information offshore, although they did not provide information about the scope of personal information transferred offshore. Moreover, the reported extent of offshore outsourcing by vendors may be understated because many federal contractors and agencies did not know whether their domestic vendors transferred personal health information to other locations or vendors.

In responding to GAO’s survey, over 40 percent of the federal contractors and state Medicaid agencies reported that they experienced a recent privacy breach involving personal health information. (The frequency or severity of these breaches was not reported.) By survey group, 47 percent of Medicare Advantage contractors reported privacy breaches within the past 2 years, as did 44 percent of Medicaid agencies, 42 percent of Medicare FFS contractors, and 38 percent of TRICARE contractors. TMA and CMS differ in their requirements for notification of privacy breaches. TMA requires monthly reports on privacy breaches from its TRICARE contractors and follows up with contractors that report recurring lapses in privacy. While CMS requires Medicare FFS contractors to report privacy breaches within 30 days of discovery, such oversight is lacking for privacy breaches that may occur with personal health information held by state Medicaid agencies and Medicare Advantage contractors, as CMS does not require reports of privacy breaches from these entities.

New Hospital CEO Blog: Running A Hospital

Via a post from The Health Care Blog, I was alerted to a second hospital CEO blogger. Paul Levy is the Pres/CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is blogging at Running A Hospital.

To my knowledge this is only the second hospital CEO blogger. Nick Jacobs, the CEO at Windber Medical Center, who blogs at Nick's Blog and periodically guest hosts at Hospital Impact gets credit for being the first hospital CEO blogger.

A warm welcome to Mr. Levy. I've added Running a Hospital to my blog roll and plan to monitor the RSS feed going forward. I've only had a chance to scan some of his past posts but the content looks promising. Based on the archives he started the blog in August 2006. Here is Mr. Levy's first post.

2007 OIG Work Plan

Saturday, October 7, 2006

The HHS - Office of the Inspector General (OIG) posted the new work plan on September 25, 2006.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the OIG Work Plan the OIG provides the following description:

The OlG Work Plan sets forth various projects to be addressed during the fiscal year by the Office of Audit Services, Office of Evaluation and Inspections, Office of Investigations, and Office of Counsel to the Inspector General. The Work Plan includes projects planned in each of the Department's major entities: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; the public health agencies; and the Administrations for Children, Families, and Aging. Information is also provided on projects related to issues that cut across departmental programs, including State and local government use of Federal funds, as well as the functional areas of the Office of the Secretary. Some of the projects described in the Work Plan are statutorily required, such as the audit of the Department's financial statements, which is mandated by the Government Management Reform Act.

Bob Coffield's Attorney Profile

Over the past few months my law firm has been working to update its website, including the format/content of attorney profiles. Since I serve on the IT and Business Development Committees of the firm I have been a test attorney to get an early revamp of my profile. I thought I would post copy that we are working on and get feedback from any readers about what they do and don't like on law firm website and in particular attorney profiles.

Robert L. Coffield
Member - Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC

Robert L. Coffield focuses on providing legal counsel to a variety of business and health care clients. He provides counsel to hospitals, clinics, physicians and physician groups, home health providers and health care trade organizations.

Mr. Coffield represents health care providers involved in regulatory litigation, certificate of need matters, privacy and security complaints, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, licensure issues and OIG/DOJ investigations. Mr. Coffield advises clients on contracting issues, corporate HIPAA compliance, fraud and abuse, Stark, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, medical staff issues and risk management. He represented business clients on corporate matters, the establishment of limited liability companies and other corporate structuring, transactions, formulation and dissolution, licensing and information technology.

Governor Joe Manchin recently appointed Mr. Coffield to a four year term on the Board of the West Virginia Health Information Network (2006 - 2010), created to promote the design, implementation and operation of a fully interoperable statewide health network to facilitate public and private use of health care data. In addition, Mr. Coffield was selected to serve as the 2006-2007 Co-Chair for the American Health Lawyers Association’s Privacy and Security Compliance and Enforcement Health Information Technology Affinity Group. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Coffield held the position of Assistant General Counsel for the West Virginia Health Care Authority (1998 – 2001).

Mr. Coffield is the author of Health Care Law Blog, an analysis and commentary on a variety of health care law related industry news and information with a focus on West Virginia law.

Practice Areas

Health Care/Regulatory Compliance
Corporate Transactions
Government Relations
Medical Malpractice

Education

J.D., West Virginia University College of Law (1993)
B.A., cum laude, English, Bethany College (1988)

Court Admissions

Professional Involvement

American Health Lawyers Association, Co-Chair, Privacy and Security Compliance and Enforcement Health Information Technology Affinity Group (2006 – 2007)
West Virginia Health Information Network, Board Member, appointed to a four-year term by Governor Joe Manchin (2006 – 2010)
West Virginia Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative Project, Committee Member, Legal Working Group (2006 - 2007)
West Virginia eHealth Initiative, Steering Committee Member (2005 – present)
West Virginia Bar Association
Kanawha County Bar Association

Representative Legal Work

Represented a West Virginia hospital seeking a certificate of need involving the development of a comprehensive cancer center program.
Represented a West Virginia nonprofit hospital in negotiations with a for profit hospital system to sell its facility in return for the construction of a new $80 million health care facility to serve the local community.
Defended and settled a United States Department of Justice investigation involving two hospitals who allegedly allocated the market by dividing cancer and open heart related services to strengthen the provision of services in a rural setting and addressed related state action doctrine issues involving the West Virginia Health Care Authority’s certificate of need regulatory scheme.
Represented and settled a class action involving a group of West Virginia hospitals who were alleged to be overcharging patients for copies of medical records under the statutory structure outlined in the West Virginia Code.
Represented and advised multiple hospitals and physician groups on implementation of and compliance with the Privacy and Security Standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Represented a national home health care provider in a $4.5 million dollar acquisition of a West Virginia rural home health agency servicing a six county service area.
Represented a national home health care provider in acquiring a certificate of need to acquire a West Virginia home health care provider for $4.5 million dollars.
Represented a national home health care provider in for-profit and non-profit joint venture acquisition of hospital-based home health services.
Represented and advised Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) on various state and federal issues involving Medicare and Medicaid quality and utilization review.
Represented and advised an affiliated academic medical practice on privacy and security compliance, development of model policy and procedures and transitional issues under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Represented a regional emergency medicine provider on business and transactional issues, including formation of West Virginia entities, negotiation of various agreements and regulatory compliance matters.
Represented a regional correctional medicine company on various litigation and compliance related matters, including compliance with the Privacy and Security Standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Sought and received an exemption from certificate of need review for a mobile ultrasound service provider in West Virginia.
Represented physician in Medicaid related audit, investigation and settlement on billing and reimbursement issues.
Represented a West Virginia ophthalmologist in the acquisition of an ophthalmology practice and eye care center.
Represented nurse before the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurse on licensure and impaired provider issues.
Assisted various hospitals, physicians and other health care clients with internal risk management and compliance investigations.
Assist hospitals, physicians and insurance companies in seeking advisory opinion on proposed projects involving certificate of need approval.

Teaching and Lecturing

Confidentiality and Privacy of Medical Information in West Virginia, Lorman Educational Services, Robert L. Coffield and Edward C. Martin, Charleston, WV (2006)
Privacy & Informational Compliance Issues: HIPAA, FACTA, US PATRIOT Act and Workplace Legal Issues, West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants 14^th Annual Conference for Industry & Governmental Professionals, Charleston, WV (2005)
Confidentiality and Privacy of Medical Information in West Virginia, Lorman Educational Services, Robert L. Coffield and Edward C. Martin, Charleston, WV (2005)
The Impact of HIPAA, FERPA and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 on Higher Education, Marshall University Graduate School of Education, LS745 Higher Education Law, South Charleston, WV (2005)
Confidentiality and Privacy of Medical Information in West Virginia, Lorman Educational Services, Robert L. Coffield and Edward C. Martin, Charleston, WV (2004)
Breaches of Confidentiality – A West Virginia Mock Trial, Thirteenth Annual Winter Conference, West Virginia Society For Respiratory Care, Canaan Valley, WV (2004)
HIPAA’s Impact On West Virginia Providers and Health Plans: Privacy, Security and the Preemption of West Virginia Law, Lorman Educational Services Seminar, Charleston, WV (2003)
Mock Trial & Case Study: HIPAA, Privacy & Confidentiality Issues in West Virginia, West Virginia Office Managers Association, Mountaineer Conference Center, Chester, WV (2003)
HIPAA: Practicing Good Privacy and the Impact on Access Rights by Law Enforcement, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner SART Conference, Marshall University Forensic Science Center, Huntington, WV (2003)
HIPAA: Understanding the Impact on Law Firms, Southern & Northern Chapters of the WV American Association Legal Nurse Consultants (2003)
HIPAA Compliance: Understanding and Implementing the Security and Privacy Regulations, Lorman Educational Services Seminar, Charleston, WV (2003)
State Law and the New HIPAA Standards in West Virginia, Lorman Educational Services Seminar, Charleston, WV (2002)
The Impact of HIPAA on West Virginia Physicians: Basic Understanding of the Standard Transactions, West Virginia State Medical Association, Privacy and Security Standards, Health Care Summit, White Sulphur Springs, WV (2002)
HIPAA, Medical Compliance and the E-Revolution, Medical Education Services Seminar, Charleston, WV (2002)
HIPAA: The Background and Basics of Administrative Simplification, Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield Group Health Plan HIPAA Awareness Meeting, Charleston, WV (2002)
Administrative Simplification Section under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Lorman Educational Services, Charleston, WV (2001)
Overview of HIPAA Privacy Standards and West Virginia Prompt Payment Act, CME Presentation – Mercer County Medical Society, Bluefield, WV (2001)
HIPAA, Medical Record Compliance and the E-Revolution, Medical Education Services Seminar, Charleston, WV (2001)

Writings and Publications

The Impact of the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act: Extra Time for Physicians to Comply with the Transactions and Codes Set Standards, West Virginia State Medical Association (2002)
The Background and Basics of Administrative Simplification: The Impact of HIPAA on West Virginia Physicians, West Virginia State Medical Association (2002)
The HIPAA Privacy Standards: Practical Guidance on Identifying Business Associates (Health Lawyers – Drill Down Series), American Health Lawyers Association – Robert L. Coffield and edited by Kristen B. Rosati (2002)
Real Property: Leasing Land for Hunting and Other Recreational Uses, Cooperative Extension Services, West Virginia University; R.D. Publication No. 726; Thomas J. Allen, Dennis K. Smith and Anthony Ferrise (January 1985); Updated: Robert L. Coffield, David L. Yaussy and Timothy L. Pahl (August 1997)
Real Property: Landowner’s Rights and Responsibilities in West Virginia, Division of Resource Management, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Services, West Virginia University; R.D. Publication No. 702; Dan Doyle, Anthony Ferrise and Dennis K. Smith (January 1985); Updated: Robert L. Coffield, David L. Yaussy and Timothy Pahl (August 1997)
The Benefits and Protections of Reporting and Disclosing Policies, Second Annual West Virginia Health Care Conference (1996)
Termination and Abandonment of Oil & Gas Leases: Duties, Responsibilities and Deep Pockets (A Survey of Statutory and Common Law in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia), Eastern Mineral Law Foundation, H.L. Snyder and Robert L. Coffield (1996)
Mechanic’s Liens for Land Surveyors (A Review of the West Virginia Mechanics’ Lien Statute and 1994 Legislative Amendment), Philip A. Reale and Robert L. Coffield (1994)

Community Involvement

CAMC Foundation Golf Classic, Planning Committee (2003 – 2006)

HIP HIT Bling: Health IT Apparel

Friday, October 6, 2006

For all of you working on HIT issues -- get your latest HIP HIT Bling.

Thanks to Christina's Consideration for pointing out the new HIP health IT apparel.

Is It Healthcare or Health Care?

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Tony over at Hospital Impact raises a great semantics question. Is it "health care" or "healthcare"?

I've always prefered to use "health care" as in "Health Care Law Blog." However, I often see it spelled the other way and often thought about the age old question he poses. Well, upon a quick search of online reasource I'm glad I found support for my use of the two-word version. Check out this and this and this. But see the American Heritage dictionary entry.

Going by Google hits -- "health care" is the more common usage. Healthcare (213,000,000 hits) vs. Health Care (325,000,000 hits).

Like Cobert maybe his post will start a national movement to change the Wikipedia entry for "health care" to show a preference for one spelling or the other.

As for HIPAA -- I always use whether someone spells it correctly to judge how knowledgeable they are about the subject. Per Google the stats are HIPAA (1,010,000 hits) vs. HIPPA (1,380,000 hits). It appears, based upon the results, that privacy officers and health care lawyers have a ways to go to educate the industry and public about HIPAA.