Is your team truly complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)? If not, you could be in for a nasty surprise from regulators. Recent settlements range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and even small errors can add up to a nightmarish scenario if you are audited.
HIPAA Settlements in the News
- New York and Presbyterian Hospital agreed to pay $3.3 million after a data breach
- Columbia University settled in the amount of $1.5 million, after auditors discovered multiple HIPAA violations
- Cancer Care Group paid $750,000 in settlement fees after an employee’s laptop containing patient files was stolen and the data was exposed.
HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA audits are becoming much more common – for most practices, it is no longer a question of “if” you will be audited, but “when” you will be audited. Our HIPAA training programs are designed to ensure that your practice is fully compliant and that everyone on your team understands their role in this evolving and complex set of regulations. HIPAA is about far more than just handing over a form letter when a patient checks in – your team needs to be aware of the rules regarding information and security, including:
- The right way to store and distribute Protected Healthcare Information and health records
- How your EMR/EHRs can be accessed – and which staffers are allowed to view and handle these electronic documents
- How to properly dispose of obsolete paperwork or documents
- The ability to identify the 19 individual identifiers covered by HIPAA
Customized training: We’re here to ensure that you fully understand and comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; our programs are designed not only to help you and your team understand the importance of compliance, but give you the tools to ensure that you are never at risk. By instilling a thorough understanding of not only the rules and regulations, but the importance of full compliance, you can avoid some of the most common HIPAA related issues.
Help you plan and implement a compliant program: Our team consists of HIPAA experts who understand not only the current regulations, but maintain up to date knowledge of upcoming changes and rulings. We can create a custom solution for your business that ensures you are always in compliance and never have to worry about the increasingly common HIPAA audit process.
Provide staff training: HIPAA matters for every team member, but different employees will require different levels of training based on state requirements. Staffers need to understand not only the importance of safeguarding information in-house, they need to understand that portable devices like laptops and tablets require special handling as well.
Remove the confusion surrounding HIPAA requirements: How to the current (and evolving) requirements apply to you and your business – and how can you implement practices that allow you to fully comply with HIPAA? A full understanding of the existing and coming requirements can help your team ensure that your practice is in full compliance with HIPAA rules and regulations.
HIPAA Training Solutions
With a long history of supporting medical practices with HIPAA services, the skilled CoreMD team specializes in creating custom training solutions designed to help you comply with this complex regulation.
Full HIPAA training for your team allows you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are fully meeting the state requirements of HIPAA legislation; there is no way to predict if or when an audit will come, but with the right training, you will be prepared. Guesswork and hoping for the best won’t help you become fully compliant with HIPAA; you need the skilled Core MD team to ensure that all of your reporting and privacy obligations are met. Contact us to learn how we can help your practice become fully HIPAA compliant and to make sure you are fully protected.