Don't Risk Your Life!

As everyone is aware, there is a serious shortage of flu vaccine in the US. Because we are working with so many health care organizations have seen first hand how this is affecting the public. People are very concerned for their health.

Unfortunately, this type of situation causes people to do whatever they can to find a way to protect themselves. Con artists are acutely aware of these situations and will do whatever they can to take advantage of the situation. We are now seeing offers for the flu vaccine on the Internet. Some are offering to provide information on where to get the vaccine, for a fee of course. And some are offering "the vaccine" at prices of up to $600.00 per dose.

The best case scenario here is credit card fraud. The con artist will get your credit card info and never send any product, but instead use the card info. The worst case scenario is that old or contaminated vaccine is delivered or worse yet, some other substance is delivered. Given the health situation of those most needing the vaccine, this could be very serious if not lethal.

Whatever your thoughts are on purchasing medications over the Internet, this is one case that should be avoided. These people are con artists. Your life or the life of a loved one could be at stake. Don't take that chance!

Remember "The Net"?

A few years ago there was a movie called "The Net" that was about a company that was creating viruses and spreading them over the Internet. The company actually sold Internet security software. They were creating their own demand so to speak. Well, someone besides me must have seen the movie.

Click Here to read about a company that is spreading Spyware in order to sell...guess what... Spyware removal software.

I love the guy's response. I hope the FTC does make an example of him.

Dell Recalling Laptop Power Cords

About 990,000 adapters are affected by the recall.

They were sold between September 1998 and February 2002 for use with some of Dell's Latitude, Precision, and Inspiron notebooks, and are marked with the name "Dell" and the part numbers "P/N 9364U," P/N 7832D" or "P/N 4983D," according to the CPSC.

Not all such adapters are being recalled, according to the Dell: owners should contact the company to find out whether their adapter is affected. If it is, the company advises them to stop using the device, and send it back for free replacement.

More information can be found here.

HIPAA Security Seminar Wednesday

We are holding a HIPAA Security seminar on Wednesday 9/29 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Waterbury. The seminar will begin at 8:30am and run until 12:30pm. We will be reviewing each requirement of the Security Rule which goes into effect 4/20/05. It will be an interactive session with practical solutions to implementing the requirements. The fee for Clients with active Support Contracts is $45.00 per person. The fee for all others is $85.00 per person. Further information is available at our office at 800-897-7002.

CMS 2004 ICD9's Need To Be Installed

For all our health care Clients: The 2004 CMS ICD9 updates have been released. These updates must be installed by October 1st, but should not be installed too long before then. Medicare requires that Final Claims contain the ICD codes of the RAPs. Any RAPs submitted on or after 10/1 must use the new codes.

We have the latest ICD9 files for our Misys and McKesson Clients. For those clients that we have VPN access to, we will install the updates on the evening of September 30th. We will notify you before we perform the installation. Questions can be referred to me at the office or via e-mail.