PracticeProtect™

On June 29th, 2017 Julian will be speaking about HIPAA Compliance along with other dental industry professionals who will present on similar topics. Please RSVP if you will be attending. Information is below.

When we schedule an appointment to go over HIPAA compliance with a new client, we are always asked, “Where do I even start?” by the owner or practice manager. Becoming HIPAA compliant is a complex proposition that takes time, knowledge, and persistence. There are many steps involved, but the first steps are always the same: […]

Healthcare organizations must take extra special care of protected health information (PHI). And part of the HIPAA security rule is a group of rules regarding how to respond to a security incident and how to go about reporting that incident depending on the severity. Make sure your organization understands the following policies and has them […]

I will be speaking at an upcoming workshop hosted by Kalibr.   Kalibr is a financial services group aimed specifically at physicians and dentists.   If you are a physician or dentist, the event is free to attend and dinner will be provided.   If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to: JohnMcCadden@TheNautilusGroup.com   The […]

During our mock HIPAA audit process, we always verify Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for our clients who are either Covered Entities (CEs) or Business Associates (BAs). In the process of deciding which BAAs are required, we are often asked about what agreement needs to be in place between two CEs who are working together. For instance, […]

I was recently asked about the following situation: If a patient’s wife, mother, husband, father, or friend calls in to make an appointment on their behalf, what all can I discuss with them? Do I need a patient’s authorization first before I can discuss PHI with his or her relative or friend? This is a […]

There are many steps you can take to prepare your organization for a HIPAA breach. If you are proactive, you can mitigate the severity of a breach considerably. And if you have the right policies in place, you can save your practice from large fines and other financial costs. Lets go over the things your […]

HIPAA regulations state that when using or disclosing PHI (protected health information) or when requesting PHI from another covered entity (a doctor’s office, dental practice, etc), a covered entity must make reasonable efforts to limit PHI, to the minimum necessary, to accomplish the intended purpose of the use, disclosure or request. So how do we accomplish […]

HIPAA requires that covered entities (organizations who provide treatment to patients, bill insurance plans, or create protected health information (PHI)) must protect their PHI. This protection extends to sending and receiving PHI. Moreover, there are specific rules for how to send PHI to outside entities like other practices, insurance companies, and patients themselves. First, lets […]

There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Of those, the National Center for Charitable Statistics estimates that over 170,000 are in the health related sector. Many of these health services nonprofits are currently unaware that HIPAA laws apply to them. This leaves nonprofits vulnerable to not only audits from the […]