FROM: Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer
DATE: May 19, 2003
SUBJECT: QIOs As Oversight Entities Under HIPAA
IPRO CONTACTS:
Tierre Jeanné, Vice President Planning & Quality, Ext. 581
Enclosed please find a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) set of Questions and Answers (Q's and A's) regarding QIOs as Oversight Entities Under HIPAA. These Q's and A's can also be found on the cms.hhs.gov website.
Please note that Medicare QIOs are health oversight agencies to the extent that they are acting under contract with Medicare to oversee the health care system in general or compliance with the quality standards under Medicare. This includes collecting and reviewing quality performance measures from hospitals regarding Medicare and non-Medicare patients. When a QIO is acting as a health oversight agency, disclosure to them for health care overnight purposes are permissible without patient permission.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tierre Jeanné, Vice President, Planning & Quality at 516-326-7767 (Ext. 581) or Glenn Hirsch, Privacy Officer (Ext. 432).