HIPAA compliance is still a challenge nationwide

In recent years, stakeholders have introduced solutions to curb the number of violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. At the same time, every medical office should be careful with aspects of HIPAA as they continue to grow their patient base.

We looked at some recent reports to the federal government concerning HIPAA. By reviewing these documents, you might find some ideas on strengthening your own HIPAA policies and better managing risks.

Still a major concern

These reports stem from the federal Office of Civil Rights, part of the Health and Human Services department. Every year, they prepare a report to Congress concerning patient rights.

This latest report reported 609 breaches of unsecured protected health information in 2021, 7% fewer than the year before. The OCR noted that the largest incident of the most common breach — through hacking — affected close to 3.3 million people.

There was also an increase of 25% in complaints alleging that HIPAA violations occurred. Often, substantial fines can occur for certain violations.

You should know that OCR investigates reported breaches affecting 500 people or more. At the same time, they also review more minor violations depending on the situation.

Compliance, risk and access

Regarding recommendations on what you can do for better HIPAA support, here are some suggestions from the reports on what needs to be improved at every practice.

Improve compliance with the rules: Have whoever controls your contact patients clear on the latest HIPAA regulations, and make sure the paperwork covering data from patients is clear as to the patient’s rights.
Analyze your risks: Take the time to see if there are possible sections of your process that can be vulnerable to breaches or other data violations.
Ensure access control is tight: Not everyone in your office needs access to patient files. Ensuring the proper security for the entire practice goes a long way to providing access that makes the most sense for patients’ privacy.

Keeping privacy in mind

Ensuring data security is one part of the training we focus on at National Recalls. Our infrastructure and foundation are second to none in the industry. With that in mind, we have checks and balances for every aspect of the business.

From the schedule and workflow to how our notes are approached before they are shared, we have an advanced method of doing things. It’s part of our commitment to service quality for your patients and your practice.

To learn more about what sets us apart from other outsourcing calling services for the medical profession, visit our website.