Is your organization prepared for a HIPAA audit? Although random audits from the Health and Human Services Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) are rare, several factors can trigger an…
Category: HIPAA & Compliance
SNF HIPAA Risk Assessment and Senior Care
A SNF focused HIPAA Risk Assessment is part of the essential security and privacy compliance program in senior care communities and (SNF) Skilled Nursing Facilities. Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability…
Benefits of Hospital Outsourcing Compliance Trends – 3 Examples
There has been a lot of ink spilled these days (well, digital ink anyway) about the benefits of outsourcing hospital compliance trends. You can read about the advantages here. You…
How Can a HIPAA Risk Assessment Tool Help Your Organization?
A HIPAA Risk Assessment Tool can help organizations stay compliant with HIPAA and monitor data security. Providers must abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)….
OIG Self-Disclosure Requirements
What about OIG self-disclosure requirements? The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) created a Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP) to give healthcare providers the opportunity to disclose when they have uncovered evidence…
Outsourcing Healthcare Compliance
What are the advantages of outsourcing healthcare compliance? How do you measure the effectiveness of your corporate compliance program? There’s no question that you need a compliance program. The question…
Covid-19 Waivers and HIPAA – 4 Key Areas
In the past 30 days plus, various agencies of the federal government have issued a dizzying variety of Covid-19 waivers and HIPAA laws and regulations. They do this to improve…
HIPAA Email Encryption Requirements
Does the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) require that you encrypt your emails? As it turns out, it’s not an easy question to answer. The reality of HIPAA…
8 Point HIPAA Compliance Checklist!
Important items to include in your HIPAA compliance checklist, based on the latest updates. Consider that in over 24 years since its implementation, there have been many updates. When HIPAA…
HIPAA Compliance Officer – the Role and Purpose
What is the role and purpose of a HIPAA compliance officer? In your organization, who is responsible for ensuring HIPAA compliance? The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires…
HIPAA Compliance Certification – Really?
HIPAA compliance certification, what is it, who provides it, and who gets it! The “author” of a HIPAA compliance certificate is always a “private” party or organization. In that sense,…
HIPAA Compliance Settlements – 6 to learn from
HIPAA compliance settlements are many and expensive! As we kick off this year, there are a few things to consider from HIPAA compliance settlements, and how it is being enforced. …
Section of HIPAA not Allowed – Recent District Court Decision
A Federal District Court decision in Washington, D.C last week is gathering headlines about portions of HIPAA being thrown out by the decision. As sometimes happens, the decision splits the…
HIPAA Breach Notification Letter
If your business or organization experienced a HIPAA breach, one of the important responses includes a HIPAA breach notification letter, to notify the individuals affected by the breach. The HIPAA…
What Does HIPAA Compliance Mean?
What exactly is HIPAA, and what does HIPAA compliance mean? Healthcare providers and their business associates are aware of the importance of maintaining HIPAA compliance. However, understanding the complete guidelines…
Outsourcing Corporate Compliance in Rural Hospitals
Outsourcing Corporate Compliance in Rural Hospitals is increasingly seen as the most cost-effective means of having and measuring an effective corporate compliance program. And, lest we forget – it should…
HIPAA Breach Penalties and What To Do About Them
Understanding HIPAA breach penalties can be a problem for many providers, in part because of the myriad of ways in which a breach can occur. HIPAA created standards for protecting…
HIPAA Compliance Requirements
HIPAA settlement payments hit an all-time high in 2018 following year-long HIPAA compliance requirements audits conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. These monetary…
Measuring Compliance Program Effectiveness – 3 Critical Questions
There have been several resources for measuring compliance program effectiveness. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put out “Measuring Compliance Program…
HIPAA Encryption Requirements or Best Practices
HIPAA Encryption requirements? Not really! To be sure, encryption may not always be directly required, but it is often best practices. When it comes to HIPAA compliance, the way you…