HIPAA

HIPAA

HIPAA

Your Comprehensive Guide to Performing Weekly HIPAA Analyses

When patients come to your practice, they expect their medical information to remain private, and it’s your job to make sure that happens. To stay on top of your HIPAA requirements, your best bet is to create ongoing, weekly and quarterly checklists that can help you remain on track with every responsibility. As a best […]
Published Date: December 21, 2022
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HIPAA

Check These Ongoing HIPAA Responsibilities to Stay on Track

Keeping your patients’ information private is one of the most important ways to stay compliant at your medical practice, and requires more than just signing off on forms. It requires vigilance and commitment, and that means you may need to perform a few ongoing tasks to stay on track with HIPAA compliance. As part two […]
Published Date: December 14, 2022
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HIPAA

Consult This HIPAA Checklist Every Quarter to Stay Compliant

When the HIPAA privacy laws first went into effect, medical practices were vigilant—but that hasn’t necessarily been the case recently. Some practices have relaxed their HIPAA compliance, and that’s a mistake. The government is still coming after violators, and has imposed more than $133 million in HIPAA settlements and penalties as of Sept. 30, 2022. […]
Published Date: December 7, 2022
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Access to medical records

5 Steps Prep You for Oct. 6 Information Blocking Rule Deadline

Medical practices have had a few years to comply with the HIPAA privacy and security rules, which means you’ve gotten a handle on issues like giving patients access to medical records in a timely manner and keeping their private information secure. But one area that you may not have mastered yet involves the Information Blocking […]
Published Date: October 4, 2022
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Medical records storage

3 Tips Help You Decide Where to Store Protected Health Info

It’s no surprise that you must store patient medical records for a set amount of time—often up to 10 years—depending on your state rules. And if you don’t comply with this requirement, you could face fines up to $50,000 per violation. What you may not know, however, is that your responsibility doesn’t end once you […]
Published Date: September 14, 2022
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HIPAA risk analysis

Create a Solid Telehealth HIPAA Risk Analysis Checklist

Your practice has created a Notice of Privacy Practices, overhauled your policies, and ensured that you don’t have any privacy breaches. But if you haven’t yet performed a HIPAA risk analysis, you’re falling short of the security rules. And with telehealth in such wide use, now is the time to make sure your patient information […]
Published Date: August 25, 2022
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fees for copies of medical records

Accurately Calculate Patient Record Copying Fees to Avoid Fines

Every practice manager knows how important it is to provide patients with access to their medical records as required by the HIPAA laws. But what you may be less clear about is how to calculate fees for copies of medical records — and if you ask patients to pay too much, you could be hit […]
Published Date: August 1, 2022
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HIPAA incident response plan

Master First 3 Steps in HIPAA Response Plan, Reduce Violations

In 2021, HIPAA breaches exposed more than 45 million patient records to hackers and marked a new annual record for HIPAA-related information offenses. HIPAA data violations not only put sensitive patient information in the hands of nefarious actors, but they also open your practice up to serious fines and penalties. Even unintentional HIPAA breaches can […]
Published Date: April 8, 2022
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Stop HIPAA Errors When Patient Can’t Pay Record Copy Fees

When a patient asks for copies of their medical records, you are required to give them to them – even if they can’t afford to pay the standard fees you charge for duplication. Balancing a patient’s right to access their medical records with your desire to cover your costs for the extra time and effort […]
Published Date: April 1, 2022
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Release of information

Avoid Front Desk HIPAA Release of Information Violations

Q: Recently, a police officer called our practice and asked our receptionist for a patient’s phone number. We previously saw the patient at the request of the Department of Transportation for a physical. Even though the caller ID indicated that the person on the phone was actually from the police department, our receptionist was unsure […]
Published Date: February 24, 2022
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