The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly referred to as HIPAA, sets forth policies that protect the way patient’s medical information is stored and shared.
Federal Law requires your medical practice to be HIPAA compliant. This means that the way you protect patient’s medical records and other information adheres to HIPAA standards.
In order to be HIPAA compliant, you must:
- Analyze the vulnerability of patient’s electronic medical records that are stored at your office or off-site
- Make sure that all Protected Health Information, or PHI, is encrypted
- Create and implement policies to address PHI that has been compromised, stolen, or misplaced
- Only work with partners and vendors that can assure the security of your patient’s information
- Give patients electronic access to their medical records within 30 days of any request
- Protect patient information from insurance providers if procedures are paid for out of pocket
- Share your full privacy policy with patients via individual communications and by publicly posting the policy in your office and on your website.
To check your practice’s policies against HIPAA compliancy requirements, visit www.CMS.gov.
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