I recently wrote a newsletter article on the importance of walking through the organization with “HIPAA Goggles” on as a way to see potential HIPAA issues that may be overlooked as we go about our jobs on a daily basis. Our brains typically call to our attention things that are different or out of place;…
Providers spend a lot of time talking about how to improve the quality and timeliness of service documentation but there is another type of documentation that deserves our attention as well. Without proper and sufficient documentation it is nearly impossible to maintain an effective HIPAA program. If a provider experiences a breach that impacts more…
By now most organizations are aware that they need a compliance program and a person who is designated as the Compliance Officer, but HIPAA requires every organization to also designate a Privacy Officer and a Security Officer. In many organizations the Compliance Officer tends to wear all the hats but it is important to consider…
As we have seen in recent weeks, hackers have become very comfortable intruding in on our personal lives by exploiting the dozens of devices we have connected to the internet. There is even a podcast that hacks into in-home security cameras when the show is on the air and talks to the homeowners. I suppose…
A common frustration for many providers is the fact they keep dealing with the same types of HIPAA issues over and over. It seems no matter what type of training staff receive they continue to have conversations in public places, post photos on social media or leave protected health information out where it can be…
On November 5, 2019 the Office of Civil Rights announced a settlement with the University of Rochester Medical Center where URMC agreed to pay $3 Million Dollars to the OCR and take “substantial corrective action” to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It was alleged the actions of URMC…
The world of health care does not suffer from a lack of policies. Most organizations have dozens or even hundreds of policies addressing everything you can imagine. Each time something happens or there is an adverse event, the natural reaction is to develop a new policy so the next time the situation arises the organization…