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The U.S. government introduced regulations to protect patient data and respect their privacy. However, the regulatory guidelines also ensured that the doctors managed to protect every piece of information. This included protection from staff as well as external threats, such as cyberattacks.
From securing information to training your staff and running regular risk assessments, staying compliant with HIPAA rules requires a proactive approach and foolproof solution.
If you are a doctor with your own practice, this post will share valuable tips to stay compliant with all federal requirements.
5 Tips for Doctor’s Offices to Comply with HIPAA
If you are a doctor with an office, follow these five simple tips to comply with HIPAA's requirements.
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Privacy is Primary
From your lobby to patients' examination rooms, you must establish parameters to offer complete privacy to your patients. This will give you a chance to speak to every patient in complete confidentiality. Speaking of privacy, you must ensure never to leave patients' documents unattended.
If you are a doctor’s office with an ePHI, ensure that only authorized officials can access private data. Train your staff to follow the privacy protocol. It would be best to use a secure medical billing and electronic claim solution like BillPro. This software allows you to make error-free claims. Furthermore, BillPro equips your office with a safeguard and ensures that all patients' data remains protected and secured at all times.
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Display a Disclaimer
It is a good idea to put a disclaimer on display that notifies your visitors about privacy practices. Make sure that a notice about privacy policy is on display in a clear sign. This will help you inform your patients that you are an office enforcing privacy protocols. Do mention details about how your office manages to keep patients' data safe.
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Create and Adhere to Policies
As a responsible doctor's practice, you must always draft a manual with policies and protocols. This manual must contain all guidelines that your staff must follow. Make sure to add all relevant forms manuals and codes of conduct in this procedural guide.
Train your staff using this manual and get them to sign the undertaking that they have received the training. However, you must keep up with any updates to HIPAA laws and revise your policies and protocols accordingly. If there are any changes, you may want to give your staff a refresher, so they are aware of the new procedures to follow.
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Retrain the Staff
Now that you have implemented the above-mentioned three practices in your doctor’s office, it is time to remember how to avoid any setbacks. Firstly, you must train your staff on HIPAA compliance on an annual basis.
Secondly, get an acknowledgment of training from your staff after every training session. You must also document the names of the attending and the dates you held the training. You must remember that all the team, including doctors and nurses, must complete annual HIPAA training.
If you are working with vendors, it is your responsibility to make sure that they receive the training as well. This will make every aspect of your operations HIPAA-compliant.
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Annual Assessment
Being a doctor's practice, you have to manage sensitive information. However, the security of the data is a continuous process.
A doctor’s office should conduct a security risk assessment at least once a year. The best way to stay compliant with the federal data protection laws is to integrate software that offers impeccable security features with 24-hour technical support 365 days a year.
One of the best ways is to deploy cloud-based medical billing software and experience your billing operations becoming securer and error-free immediately.
BillPro Offering Full Integration and Compliance
A doctor's office cannot afford to get on the radar of the authorities for non-compliance with data protection laws by HIPAA. Therefore, if you are the one, it is time to implement a solution to ensure that your practice complies with all data security laws and prerequisites.
BillPro is a cloud-based solution that can be easily integrated into your existing infrastructure. The interface is easy to use, and the implementation team will schedule training sessions to bring your staff up to speed with using the software. You can try it for 90-days at no cost. If interested, feel free to book your free trial today.
