Overview:
This session will focus on the rights of individuals to communicate in the manner they desire, and how a medical office can decide what is an acceptable process for communications with individuals.
The session will explain how to discuss communications options with
individuals so that you can best meet their needs and desires, while
preserving their rights under the rules.
- With the new HIPAA random audit program now getting under way, and
increases in enforcement actions following breaches, now is the time to
ensure your organization is in compliance with the regulations and
meeting the e-mail and texting communication needs and desires of its
providers and patients. You need the proper privacy protections for
health information, and the necessary documented policies and
procedures, as well as documentation of any actions taken pursuant to
your policies and procedures. Your policies and procedures will probably
need major revisions to maintain compliance in areas such as individual
access of records, accounting of disclosures, and breach notification.
And, of course, you will need to train your staff in all the new
policies and procedures
- E-mail has long been a staple of people's lives, but as we move into
the new digital age, it seems everyone is moving to a new smart phone
and wants to use it in all the incredible ways it can be used for health
care purposes, including the use of e-mail and texting. Doctors are
finding that texting is far more flexible, convenient, and effective
than paging, and patients want to be able to use short message texting
for handling of appointments, updates, and the like, where even e-mail
or the telephone would seem inconvenient
- In order to integrate the use of e-mail and texting into patient
communications, it is essential to perform the proper steps in an
information security compliance process to evaluate and address the
risks of using the technology. This session will describe the
information security compliance process, how it works, and how it can
help you decide how to integrate e-mail and texting into your
organization in a compliant way. The process, including the use of
information security risk analysis, will be explained, and the policies
needed to support the process will be described
- But the process must also include consideration of various patient
access requirements in the HIPAA Privacy Rule. There are new
requirements to provide patients electronic access of electronically
held PHI which raise new questions of how that access will be provided
and how the information will be protected during and after access. And
there has long been a HIPAA requirement for covered entities to do their
best to meet the requests of their patients for particular modes of
communication, and using e-mail or texting is no exception
- The stakes are high - any improper exposure of PHI may result in an
official breach that must be reported to the individual and to the US
Department of Health and Human Services, at great cost and with the
potential to bring fines and other enforcement actions if a violation of
rules is involved. Likewise, complaints by a patient if they are not
afforded the access they desire can bring about HHS inquiries and
enforcement actions, so it is essential to find the right balance of
access and control
- HHS compliance audit activity and enforcement penalties are both
increased, especially in instances of willful neglect of compliance, if,
for instance, your organization hasn't adopted the complete suite of
policies and procedures needed for compliance, or hasn't adequately
considered the impact of e-mail or texting on your compliance
- The session will discuss the requirements, the risks, and the issues
of the increasing use of e-mail and texting for patient and provider
communications and provide a road map for how to use them safely and
effectively, to increase the quality of health care and patient
satisfaction. In addition, the session will discuss how to be prepared
for the eventuality that there is a breach, so that compliance can be
assured
Why you should Attend:
- Now that requirements for allowing patients electronic access to
their health information are in effect, and as patients increasingly
come to depend on electronic communications, there are new demands for
communication via e-mail and texting. Patients don't want to bother with
secure Web-site-based solutions, they just want to use the tools they
already use for communication, and they have a right to communicate how
they wish
- How can HIPAA requirements for privacy and security be reconciled
with patient requests for information provided by e-mail and text
messages? This session will discuss the differences between professional
communications and patient communications, and how they must be treated
to best serve patients, most efficiently enable communications, and
remain within the bounds of HIPAA compliance
- The HIPAA Omnibus Update rules contain numerous changes to HIPAA
Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification rules that affect
communication with patients and clients of health care services, who
often ask to communicate with health care offices via e-mail or text
message. Many of the policies and procedures in place at every health
care-related organization will need to be reviewed and updated to meet
the new requirements. Organizations need to understand the various ways
that health care communications can take place, and how patient
communications fit in with the HIPAA rules. They need to design and
implement a patient communication policy and plan, and train their staff
on it, or they may face significant new fines for noncompliance
- E-mail and texting present new challenges to health care providers,
as there are simultaneously new requirements to share information with
patients, and a new enforcement effort to ensure the privacy and
security of Protected Health Information (PHI). Meeting both challenges
requires careful consideration of all the regulations and technologies,
as well as patient preferences and work flow
- Most HIPAA covered entities now face difficult choices between
compliance and ease of communication. Most organizations haven't updated
their information security risk analysis or policies and procedures and
run the risk of breaches, rule violations, and fines in the event of
mishandling of PHI using these new technologies
Areas Covered in the Session:
- Find out the ways that patients want to use their e-mail and texting
to communicate with providers, and the ways providers want to use
e-mail and texting to enable better patient care
- Learn what are the risks of using e-mail and texting, what can go wrong, and what can result when it does
- Find out about HIPAA requirements for access and patient preferences, as well as the requirements to protect PHI
- Learn how to use an information security management process to
evaluate risks and make decisions about how best to protect PHI and meet
patient needs and desires
- Find out what policies and procedures you should have in place for
dealing with e-mail and texting, as well as any new technology
- Learn about the training and education that must take place to
ensure your staff uses e-mail and texting properly and does not risk
exposure of PHI
- Find out the steps that must be followed in the event of a breach of PHI
- Learn about how the HIPAA audit and enforcement activities are now
being increased and what you need to do to survive a HIPAA audit
Who Will Benefit:
- Compliance Director
- CEO
- CFO
- Privacy Officer
- Security Officer
- Information Systems Manager
- HIPAA Officer
- Chief Information Officer
- Health Information Manager
- Healthcare Counsel/Lawyer
- Office Manager