HIPAA to the BA

Today's issue is HIPAA and Business Associate Agreements.

Under the HITECH Act, HIPAA will apply to Business Associates like it currently applies to Covered Entities. There is a proposed rule to implement this, which was expected to be finalized this past summer. It was not.  If Obama wins, there is no telling when the final rule will be issued.  If he loses, it is a safe bet that his regime will push to have the final rule issued before the end of the year in order to forestall its complete death.

The key to these proposed rules is that Covered Entities are trying to build in the elements of the proposed rules to their current Business Associate Agreements.  At present, certain elements are not expected out of Business Associates, but certainly Covered Entities would love to have these elements present now - like downstream enforcement to subcontractors of the Business Associates, audit trails, and the physical, administrative, and technical safeguards of the security rule.

There is a hope and a prayer that reasoning will overcome our Congress and some pieces of the HITECH Act will get repealed. But it's only a hope. and LOTS of prayer.

Leadership, part III

Let's abandon the academic discussions of leadership and enter the realm of personal advice.  

I have been called a leader. I have been recognized as a leader (Phoenix 40 under 40, FBI Citizens Academy, State Bar of Arizona leadership academy, YWCA educational leader, etc.). I have held leadership positions from school groups, to non-profit boards, to jobs. I share this so you have some idea of my authority to speak on this topic. So yes, time to pat myself on the back.

But I do not engage in this post to self-congratulate, I embark on this discussion to share my views on what it takes to be a leader when one deliberately desires to be a leader. Below I share my top five elements of great leaders.

My first and perhaps most important point is: serve others.  Do not seek to elevate yourself, seek to serve others. If you have a talent or skill that can benefit someone else, use it for their benefit.  If this happens to serve a large group of people, great. If it serves one person, great. 

Listen.  Leaders typically solve problems. Listen. Figure out the problem. Listen. Figure out the solution.

Be true to yourself.  Pretending or trying to be someone you are not will guarantee failure at some point. Your palace of success will be built on a flimsy base of cards.  Be you. Be the best you possible and always strive to improve. You are not perfect. Accept it. Get as close to it as possible. But remain humble.  There is always someone out there a little smarter, a little better, a little more ambitious, a little more than whatever you are.

Ethics. Honesty. Morals. Integrity. All words describing a solid foundation of truth.

A leader is only truly as good as his/her team: be it supporters, followers, colleagues, or customers.  Very little is accomplished in a vacuum. The world is about people. Life is about people.

Leadership, part II

Looking at the examples of leaders provided in the previous entry seems to make the definition of leadership even more confusing.  Hitler as a leader? In the same category as Mother Teresa?  Yes. and No.

Both "good" and "bad" leaders are leaders in the sense that they effect change on some level.  In Hitler's case, it was on a massive, global level impacting hundreds of thousands of individuals either directly or in the efforts to stop him.  By all accounts he was charismatic, intelligent, talented, and personable.  And while we will discuss toxic leaders in another entry, would not necessarily qualify as a toxic leader.  Apparently, he was an effective leader, able to motivate an entire generation and the next one.  In this case, his goals were suspect and in a historical perspective - bad.

Mother Teresa, on the other hand, sought neither fame nor fortune.  She selflessly gave of herself, her efforts, her time to provide for others.  She raised no army. She had few if any direct followers.  She was not known to be charismatic or particularly intelligent (in this regard, I offer no insult, merely indicating that of the traits she is known for, no one discusses her intelligence). She is known to be humble, enduring, giving, selfless, kind, faithful.

So why are both leaders?  Is leadership linked to quality of one's goals, results, position, followers, or what? Yes.  Leadership is one of those nebulous concepts that defeats decades of efforts to nail it down, but simultaneously everyone knows what leadership is.  The trouble comes when one wants to be a leader and is looking for that recipe of traits to have or things to do.  Those that are natural leaders may not ever engage in this effort, but they also may not agree that they are leaders. This depends on how they qualify as leaders.  Mother Teresa would probably never have stated she was a leader. Hitler proclaimed it to the world.

Some leaders may not ever realize it, until one day they look behind them and see a river of followers.

What about those who want to be leaders? Who want that recipe to follow?  We'll address this next time.