HIPAA & The medical practice: Requirements for Privacy, Security and Breach Notification

Overview:

Any provider that transmits any information in electronic form (doctors, clinics, hospitals, surgical centers, psychologists, dentists, chiropractors, nursing homes, assisted living, pharmacies, etc.) is a covered entity under HIPAA and, therefore, must comply with HIPAA laws and regulations.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was passed by Congress in order to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop national rules for the protection of electronic healthcare information.

The rules mandated that states adopt these federal protections. The HI-TECH act, a part of HIPAA, also known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 was adopted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It was intended to promote the adoption of and meaningful use of electronic medical records and it addresses and strengthens penalties for violation of HIPAA protections of electronic health information.

The three main HIPAA rules that make up the newly revised OMNIBUS Rue of 2013 include: Privacy Rule: Establishes the set of national standards for the protection of health information.

Security Rule: Establishes the set of national standards for the protection of health information that is electronically stored and/or transmitted.

Breach Notification Rule: Establishes the set of national notification requirements if a Covered Entity discovers a breach of unsecured protected health information.

Attendees will be provided with an overview of the basic requirements under HIPAA, including:

Notice of Privacy Practices
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
Privacy Officer Designation
Patient Access to Protected Health Information
Administrative, Technical and Physical Safeguards
Business Associate Requirements

Each of these important requirements will be discussed and the proper process for implementation reviewed. Attendees will learn the importance of appointing a practice Privacy Officer. All practices should have one individual who is the designated Privacy Officer. It is this individual's responsibility to make sure that the practice meets all requirements of HIPAA.

The Privacy Officer should:
Perform regular internal Compliance Risk Assessment reviews
Conduct regular staff training on the requirements and implementation of HIPAA

How to conduct a Risk Assessment as well as how to determine if an incident is unreportable, or a reportable breach, will also be discussed.

The federal Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") has the duty and responsibility to investigate complaints or reports of potential HIPAA violations and to continuously monitor entities required to comply with HIPAA ("Covered Entities") for compliance.

OCR began a preliminary pilot program for random compliance audits of Covered Entities in 2015. All practices are now on notice that they can be inspected at any time, for any reason.Complaints to OCR are no longer the only method by which a practice's HIPAA compliance can be called into question.

Any practice manager, owner, subcontractor or employee should be fully versed in HIPAA!

Why should you Attend: HIPAA compliance is one of the most cited and least understood laws in the typical medical practice. Although HIPAA has been in place for decades, it has changed rapidly in the last ten years due to the rapid proliferation of technology in medicine.

In addition to these progressive changes, the law itself underwent a major overhaul in 2013 resulting in any practice that has not updated their HIPAA materials since that time being out of compliance. The speaker will highlight the major changes that must have been implemented after the 2013 HIPAA updates.

Thereafter, the attendee will learn the basic requirements for a Notice of Privacy Practices as well as when authorizations are and are not required for the use and disclosure of a patient's protected health information.

The latter half of the webinar will focus on identification of a breach and what the required process is to remedy a breach if it is determined one has occurred.

The federal Office for Civil Rights, the government entity tasked with enforcing HIPAA began a preliminary pilot program in 2015 to ensure a certain number of random compliance audits of Covered Entities.

The initial overview of HIPAA requirements and policies will help the attendee determine if his or her practice is compliant. Thereafter, the speaker will highlight what "red flags" the Office for Civil Rights looks for when determining whether to audit a practice and learn what to do in the event you are selected for a random audit.

Areas Covered in the Session:
Determining Level of Compliance with HIPAA
Recognizing areas that Need to be Brought into Compliance
Learning how to Analyze a Breach
Current Trends in Enforcement Actions

Who Will Benefit:
Physicians
Health Care Providers
Practice Mangers
Administrators
Privacy Officers
Office Managers
Medical Record Clerks
Non-Clinical Health care Employees and Contractors
Business Associates of Health Care Providers
Gina L Campanella - MentorHealth Speaker Profile
Gina L. Campanella focuses on healthcare regulatory and transactional matters federally and in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Ms. Campanella has assisted clients with transactional services and regulatory compliance consulting, as well as general counsel services to small practices and large societies and medical groups alike. Clients also seek her expertise when reviewing employment agreements, formation of new practices, separation from and sale of practices, business structuring, and surgical center licensing and registration, including preparation for Department of Health, AAAHC and AAAASF surveys of licensed and Medicare deemed facilities, as well as preparation and implementation of resulting plans of correction.