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The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will delay enforcement of its "red flags" rule through Dec. 31 while Congress considers legislation that would exempt physician, attorney and accounting offices with fewer than 20 employees from having to comply. The regulation calls for banks and creditors to have written plans in place to prevent, identify and mitigate identity theft.
The FTC had set a deadline of June 1 for compliance.
The FTC had classified healthcare practices as creditors because patients normally do not pay in full for healthcare services at the time they are delivered. The American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association and Medical Society of the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block physician practices from being classified as creditors.
"In applying the ‘red flags' rule to physicians who do not require payment in full at the time of providing care to patients, the FTC is exceeding its statutory authority and acting arbitrarily and capriciously," the lawsuit stated. It cited a 2009 Washington district-court decision on a suit filed by the American Bar Association that lawyers and law firms are not necessarily creditors when they grant clients the right to defer payment and so are not subject to the rule. (That case is currently under appeal.)
The "red flags" rule became law Jan. 1, 2008, and the original deadline for full compliance was Nov. 1, 2008. The deadline subsequently was pushed back to June 1, 2010. The FTC said that if Congress passes legislation limiting the scope of the "red flags" rule with an effective date earlier than Dec. 31, the agency will begin enforcement as of that date.
Even with the delay, are you ready?
Revenue360 can help your hospital support its Red Flags Rule procedures. To learn how, go here.
A survey was sent out to the attendees of our presentation. Those who completed the survey were entered into a random drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. We are pleased to announce that an Admitting Director from University Hospital of the SUNY is the winner!
Per the survey responses, 37% are currently working on Auditing projects, 50% are currently working on Eligibility Verification projects, 40% are currently working on implementing Demographic Validation projects with another 40% planning on implementing Demographic Validation within the next 12 months, and 27% are currently working on Pricing Estimation with 46% planning on implementing Pricing Estimation within the next 12 months.
Revenue360 uses FHS ClearQuote as the power behind our Revenue360 Pricing Estimator Module.
Through FHS, the Revenue360 Pricing Estimator module gives providers credible pricing estimation to establish the patient's financial obligation at the earliest point of patient contact. The Revenue360 Pricing Estimator module enables providers to meet the demands for price transparency and patient consumerism by using intelligent logic to calculate procedural charges, analyze historical data, evaluate contractual pricing between the hospital and the payer, and apply patient insurance benefit information.
If you are attending HFMA, stop by the FHS Best in Breed Booth (971), see a demo of Revenue360 and have a have a drink on us!
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