Becker's ASC Review

77 GASTROENTEROLOGY Utah gastroenterologist pays $100K to settle accusation of HIPAA violation By Rachel Popa A Utah gastroenterologist has agreed to pay the HHS' Office of Civil Rights $100,000 for a corrective action plan related to a potential violation of a HIPAA security rule. Steven A. Porter, MD, came under investigation after his practice filed a breach report involving a busi- ness associate. It was discovered Dr. Porter hadn't conducted a risk analysis during and after the breach and also hadn't adopted security measures to help prevent future breaches by addressing potential vulnerabilities. "The failure to implement basic HIPAA requirements, such as an accurate and thorough risk analysis and risk management plan, continues to be an unac- ceptable and disturbing trend within the healthcare industry," said Roger Severino, director of the OCR. Dr. Porter must also follow a corrective action plan with two years of monitoring. n GI Alliance makes 1st acquisition of 2020 in San Antonio — 4 insights By Eric Oliver D allas-based GI Alliance waited until March to ring in the new year, but did so in a big way by acquiring Gastroenterology Consultants of San Antonio. What you should know: 1. The deal grows GI Alliance's affiliated network to more than 350 gastroenterologists across six states. 2. Gastroenterology Consultants was founded in 1978. The practice has 26 gastroenterologists, 10 offices and three ASCs. The practice also has several additional ancillaries. 3. The practice has a well-established business administrative operation, which offers in-house revenue cycle management, IT and clinical operations support. 4. Addison, Texas-based United Surgical Partners Internation- al was also involved in the deal. USPI is a partner in Gastroen- terology Consultants' three ASCs. n been able to provide us with an adequate supply of PPE and COVID test kits to be used as needed in order to reopen safely. We are administering the COVID tests ourselves, and the state is providing test results within 48 hours offering an additional level of assurance in addition to our rigorous and timely screening of all patients and staff. We had a "deep cleaning" of the facility, which tests surfaces for the presence of bacteria and other agents post-cleaning. We are confident we are doing everything possible using all available resources to keep our patients and staff safe. William Ritchie, MD, orthopedic surgeon at New Mexico Sur- gery Center Orthopaedics (Albuquerque): New Mexico guide- lines for expanding surgical cases include screening patients 72 to 48 hours preoperative for COVID-19, but antibody testing is not recommended. All patients are surveyed for respiratory complaints, exposure to infected persons and fever. Patients are then asked to self-quar- antine aer they are tested until two weeks post-procedure. Masks are mandatory in the surgery center, and patients are only allowed one person to accompany them as they check in and check out. We aren't allowing visitors to remain in the surgery center unless the patient is a minor. e state mandated surgery centers operate at 50 percent volume for the first two weeks until the governor establishes new guidelines. We'll follow guidelines from the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons otherwise. Initially, the center will perform cases that can be done under lo- cal and/or regional anesthesia. When intubating and extubating, personnel in the operating room are limited, and [the anesthe- siologist] wears a powered air purifying respirator-type device. Patients who might require admission to acute or other care will still be postponed. We intend to extend hours slightly to accommodate longer turn- over times for cleaning and anesthesia, and we are considering operating on Saturday to accommodate the longer times as well. To figure out our caseload, surgeons are being asked to submit waiting lists of cases to help with scheduling and assigning block time. n

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