HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA Compliance: Do You Comply With the HIPAA Privacy Regulations?  

HIPAA compliance is required by you or your company if you collect, disseminate or store information in any way connected with the health of any individual. Even if you support those that do provide such services, you must comply with HIPAA.  

For example, if you electronically transmit any information related to patients that could identify the information with the patient, or if you hold any records that relate to patients, then HIPAA compliance is mandatory. To fail to do so could result in prosecution under civil or criminal law. 

Examples of Covered Entities

Examples of those for whom HIPAA compliance will be mandatory under the HIPAA Privacy Regulations include:

·          Health service providers

·          Health insurers that maintain patient-related information

·          Health plan providers

·          Health care clearing houses

·          Blood, organ or sperm donor banks

·          Pharmacies

·          Dental practices

·          Ambulance companies

·          Paramedic's

·          Social workers

·          Rehabilitation centers

·          Any companies billing third-party payers directly

In short, any individual or organization that electronically transmits health care information that can be identified to individual patients is known as what the regulations refer to as a "Covered Entity". Even if you do not fax or email information, but your billing company or any firm that receives such information from you does so, then your firm is a covered entity. If you in any way have access to patient information, then you will likely have to comply with HIPAA Privacy Regulations.

What is Involved in HIPAA Compliance?

HIPAA compliance is not something simple that you can set up yourself overnight without expert guidance. Much of the initial HIPAA implementation work involves defining transactions covered by the regulations, and creating standard definitions and terms that can be used in the creation of patient's records.

HIPAA compliance will initially involve you identifying every process that involves the handling of patient information and privacy, and then redesigning these processes to develop an all-encompassing security program to meet the needs of the Regulations. These processes will include:

·          Staff training

·          Standards of practice

·          Risk assessments

·          Record handling, maintenance, storage and transmission

·          Procedural controls

·          Technical controls

·          Anything remotely connected with patients records

You will also have to set up a system for the management of the patient information security procedures, and institute an auditing procedure for the management of the system and HIPAA compliance. You will also have to get written agreement from your suppliers that they will maintain a level of privacy and security equal to that of their customers. If the refuse or fail to do so, you will have to find alternative suppliers.

Your first step will be to carry out an assessment known as a 'gap' assessment of everything that has to be done to ensure HIPAA compliance.

Simple processes have to be identified, such as ensuring that other patients cannot overhear nurses or doctors discussing a patient's case. The use of open tannoys or intercoms to deliver patient-specific information, or emails being left open on computer screens. Even the locking systems used for rooms or cabinets holding patient records will be investigated.

You will find it significantly easier to ensure initial compliance, and then manage your HIPAA procedures, by using a software package designed to take all the hard work and expense out of complying.

Why Interactive HIPAA?

Interactive HIPAA is an office system and software package designed to take you step by step through the HIPAA compliance process. Without some form of help you will be totally bogged down by the detail involved in HIPAA compliance, such as how to prevent faxes or emails from being read by the wrong people.

By dividing the compliance process into 20 separate modules, Interactive HIPAA will enable you to tackle the problem in a stepwise fashion, each step leading logically onto the next. The software will enable you to understand the language used in the regulations, and adapt that to suit your own organization so it is more easily understood and accurately applies to the way your facility is organized.

Ultimately, you will be in a position to print out two compliance manuals, customized to your organization, and leaving nothing out for official external auditors to catch you out on. Your Compliance Verification Report will help you to verify your HIPAA compliance.

Without this type of software HIPAA compliance can be a nightmare, and many organizations have spent a fortune employing external contractors to carry out the compliance work for them. While HIPAA is complex, it is nevertheless sufficiently logical for compliance to be software driven.

The Quick Start Guide gives you an overview and a rapid means of getting started. You will be provided with more than 40 procedural forms and logs to ensure that you are covering absolutely everything needed for HIPAA compliance. Not only that, but you will receive free updates for a year, and any HIPAA amendments made will provided to you immediately they are passed as part of an update.

HIPAA compliance is a legal necessity, and whether or not you comply with the HIPAA privacy regulations after you have done all the hard work will rest on an external audit of your systems - you cannot afford to fail. The fastest and most effective way of ensuring that your office is 100% HIPAA compliant is to use Interactive HIPAA.