Medical security is perhaps the most critical issue
facing Medical Professionals and with new HIPAA
enforcement, it has become urgent. Security and
Compliance is about more than just medical records and
pertains to nearly every facet of business today. HIPAA
compliance is vital to reducing legal and financial
liability.
Virtually all-healthcare organizations - including all
health care providers, health plans, public health
authorities, healthcare clearinghouses, and self-ensured
employers - as well as life insurers, information
systems vendors, various service organizations, and
universities are now effected by HIPAA regulation.
Guarding corporate and patient data, protecting company
property and ensuring patient safety are among the most
important and challenging responsibilities that medical
professionals face.
The range of HIPAA awareness on the part of
physicians varies and many physicians have not yet taken
steps to ensure that their practices will be HIPAA
compliant by the required dates. While HIPAA poses a
compliance challenge for physicians, recent
modifications to HIPAA's privacy requirements provide
some clarification to assist in compliance efforts.
HIPAA Compliance Priorities
HIPAA's compliance requirements are extensive and the
compliance dates have already passed. Some priorities
for physicians to consider include the following:
Standard transactions
Is your practice ready to conduct standard
electronic HIPAA transactions this year or next? Has
a compliance plan been submitted to HHS in order to
obtain an additional year to comply? Physician
practices should immediately discuss Standard
Transaction Rule compliance with their billing
companies and should also be aware of the compliance
timelines of their third party payers.
Business associates
Have you identified those vendors who perform
services or functions on behalf of your practice who
have access to PHI. HIPAA calls such vendors
"business associates" and requires covered providers
to enter into written business associate agreements
containing specific privacy provisions. HHS
published sample business associate contract
provisions with the Privacy Rule modifications and
template business associate agreements are available
through many sources.
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