The resolution outlines substantive reasons for making electronic health records a goal for all involved in processing patient health information. Passage of this resolution makes North Carolina the first state in the nation to have a common vision adopted as policy by all of the major professional associations. People receive health care from a variety of sources. Immediate, secure access by health care providers to a patients' information is becoming increasingly important.
Electronic solutions are a viable next step.
According to Compliance Monitor , a jury last week convicted three former home health company owners of health care fraud and other related criminal charges. The former owners of Texas-based Affiliated Professional Home Health Care Agency committed health care fraud, mail fraud and money laundering related to their submissions of false Medicare cost reports from 1993 to 1998, said prosecutors. Former owners Carrie Hamilton and Alice Miles were also convicted of paying illegal kickbacks to providers for Medicare patient referrals. The jury also convicted Richard Miles for mail fraud and health care fraud, said prosecutors. In court documents, prosecutors allege that the three submitted millions of dollars in false and fraudulent expenses for reimbursement to Medicare.