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Overview: The webinar will concentrate on topics that HHS has announced will be the focus of the first round of "desk audits". They reflect significant areas of non-compliance revealed in the 2012 pilot audits and HHS HIPAA violation investigations concluded by Resolution Agreements and Corrective Action Plans. They include: HIPAA Risk Analysis Risk Management based on Risk Analysis Breach Notification Notice of Privacy Practices (for Covered Entities) Minimum Necessary Standard Access of Individuals to their PHI Authorizations Workforce Training This webinar is vital because, in focusing on preparation for a HIPAA Compliance Audit, Covered Entities and Business Associates may review, prioritize and structure their HIPAA Compliance programs. If you have HIPAA Compliance documentation ready to submit on two weeks notice to HHS you are implementing an effective HIPAA Compliance program. In addition, every Covered Entity or Business Associate may face an HHS HIPAA Compliance investigation at any time due to a complaint or a Breach. If you are "audit ready" you will be ready for an investigation - and better able to avoid complaints and prevent breaches. Why should you attend: Every Covered Entity and Business Associate is liable - without prior notice - to be audited for HIPAA Compliance by HHS You will have only 2 weeks after receiving your HIPAA Compliance Audit notification and data request to upload all requested documents to an HHS HIPAA Compliance Audit Portal The HIPAA Compliance Audit data request you receive will specify content and file organization, file names and any other document submission requirements Auditors will not contact an audited entity for clarifications or ask for additional information - it is essential that submitted documents are current, accurately reflect the entity's HIPAA Compliance program and demonstrate HIPAA Compliance Only data submitted on time will be assessed Failure to respond on time may be referred to the HHS regional

Overview: New changes modifying the HIPAA Privacy and Security Regulations are going into place to meet the privacy and security mandates within the HITECH Act in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The changes include establishing new rights for individuals as well as changes to the limitations on uses and disclosures. New requirements for patient access to records and requirements to notify individuals in the event of a breach are only two of the many areas affected in the new law, including new requirements for restriction and accounting of disclosures and increased enforcement activity. Covered entities that use electronic health records (EHRs) will need to meet new access and disclosure rules and all kinds of business associates and their subcontractors will need to establish compliance programs. And if you are required to have a HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, you will need to update that to show all the new rights that patients will have, such as electronic copies, new rights to restrict disclosures, and much more. Business associates are now directly covered by the HIPAA privacy and security regulations and are liable for fines and penalties if they do not comply. If a business associate supplies services that interact with the new changes to the rules, the BA will need to be aware of the new requirements. We will explain what a Business Associate needs to do differently under the new regulations. Electronic records have new demands placed on them, in both providing access and in accounting for all disclosures of health information - the electronic age in health care brings new obligations to serve individuals as well as manage health information for healthcare professionals. We will discuss how disclosures must be tracked in an EHR and review the various ways patient records can be supplied electronically. The new regulations will be reviewed and their effects on usual practices will be discussed, as will what policies need to be chang

Overview: Section 13411 of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, requires Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct periodic audits of providers and business associates to ensure their compliance with the HIPAA Security and Privacy Rule, and breach notification standards. To implement this mandate, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has conducted HIPAA/HITECH audit program with KPMG of 115 health care organizations to assess privacy and security compliance. This webinar will focus on the implementation and tracking of HIPAA audit best practices in a healthcare setup in order to prepare for the federal audit using published OCR audit protocols. Every audit begins with interviews, a questionnaire, and a thorough policy and procedures review. Presenter, with his decades of knowledge in the compliance, legal, auditing and security areas, will walk the attendees through the audit process, documentation requirements, and implementation specifications of the HIPAA privacy, security and breach rules. This presentation not only provides opportunity for the participants to prepare for the federal HIPAA audit but also to improve the security posture of their organizations by adopting to changing technology (mobile, social media, Health Information Exchange(HIE), cloud services, etc.) and threat landscape perspective as well. This presentation will uncover reasons why many health information breaches are occurring and help organizations better secure and comply with electronic protected health information by meeting the required and addressable HIPAA/HITECH security rules. The presenter will also share the best practices used for HIPAA security implementation and continuous risk assessment which is considered as "due diligence" by auditors for the HIPAA security compliance program. Areas Covered in the Session: Healthcare Technology Adoption/Trends Healthcare Regulatory (HIPAA/HITECH) and OCR/HHS Audit Overview Differences between

Understanding Medical Identity Theft and ways of preventing it Medical Identity Theft is a common phenomenon in today's situation, where most health records are digitized. Although a lot of precaution goes into the security and protection of these records, Medical Identity Theft is a cause for worry. medicalIdentityTheft The most common types of data that are stolen are Social Security Number (SSN), name and the Medicare number, the most potent tools with which to impersonate and manipulate data. Why do crooks steal medical data? Medical Identity Theft happens mainly because hackers and mischief-makers access protected data to lay hands on confidential information about patients, using which they obtain medical care on behalf of the person/s whose records they steal or purchase expensive medicines. In many cases, a Medical Identity Theft is detected only after one gets a bill for a purchase or service that was never made. medicalIdentityTheft Medical Identity Theft is also committed to buy drugs and obtain fake bills that are then submitted to Medicare in the name of the original holder of the medical record. These acts can significantly dent a person's credit rating. More importantly, when wrong information or fictitious diagnosis is made into the medical record, it can lead to dangerous consequences. Ways of protection of medical data The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which comes under Health and Human Services (HHS), realizing the gravity of the problem of Medical Identity Theft, has formulated the "3D" approach to protect medical data and prevent Medical Identity Theft. These are: Deter: One of the ways of protecting medical data is to prevent Medical Identity Theft. Users should be cautious about parting with information to anyone who claims, over phone, to have a new scheme whose enrolment requires the Social Security Number. Detect:Many fraudsters accost people at accessible public places to announce supposedly "new" medical schemes. Governm

Overview: Final regulations for the new HIPAA Breach Notification Rule require much more than notifying individuals affected by a Breach of their Protected Health Information (PHI). Covered Entities and Business Associates first must follow and document a very specific process to determine if a Breach occurred. If no Breach occurred documentary proof must be kept for six years. If a Breach did occur timely notifications and other actions must be undertaken and documented. This webinar will explain: What Covered Entities and Business Associates must do to comply with the Breach Notification Rule What is and is not a Breach Three exceptions - when an acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of PHI not permitted by the Privacy Rule is not a Breach How to perform a Breach Risk Assessment to determine if you can demonstrate a a low probability that the PHI was compromised Who must be notified in case of a Breach When notifications must be provided What information must be contained in each notification Other requirements in case of a Breach Investigate Mitigate harm to affected individuals Protect against further Breaches Document everything Planning and preparation for the worst - public relations and mitigation strategies to limit damage to the organization's reputation and financial well-being Why should you attend: Breaches and incidents that might be Breaches happen all the time! More than 173,000 separate breaches of Protected Health Information (PHI) affecting less than 500 individuals were reported to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) between September, 2009 and May 31, 2015 and in the same period HHS received approximately 1240 reports of PHI breaches that affected 500 or more individuals An acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of PHI not permitted by the Privacy Rule is presumed to be a Breach unless it falls within an exception or the Covered Entity or Business Associate can demonstrate a low probability that the PHI was compromi

HIPAA Breach Notification Rules and its new version : Let us begin at the beginning: What is breach notification? The term is pretty simple to understand. It means notifying the authorities whenever there is a breach of Protected Health Information (PHI). Covered Entities (CE's) and Business Associates (BA's), who are closely associated with PHI, and individuals whose PHI data are breached, are required to bring such data breaches to the notice of the authorities, whenever there is one. A breach notification is a mechanism that is aimed at ensuring that BA's and CE's meet requirements in the HITECH Act in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). To whom should the affected individuals and CE's and BA's complain? Whenever there is a breach of PHI by a CE or a BA, or if there is violation of the Privacy, Security, or Breach Notification Rules, the affected individual can complain to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which will initiate investigation into these complaints. Whenever a CE or a BA detects a breach, it can complain to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). In addition, the HIPAA breach notification rules have clear guidelines on how to report breaches in the following classifications: HIPAA's definition of a breach A breach of PHI is said to have taken place when any unpermitted use or disclosure that compromises the security of the data in the PHI takes place. Any such action, resulting in the breach of any kind of data contained in a PHI, big or small, is considered a breach, unless the CE or BA can explain that the data that got breached into was not serious enough, from its risk assessment point of view, to warrant immediate intervention. The new HIPAA breach notification rules The HHS embarked on a new HIPAA breach notification program, the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Audit Program, with which it seeks to bring a few changes into the existing HIPAA breach notification rules. This new Audit Pr

Course "Texting and E-mail with Patients: Patient Requests and Complying with HIPAA " has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: With the recent advances in portable technology, more and more organizations and their users are taking advantage of mobile devices to save time and get work done more efficiently. Texting, portable e-mail, and Apps are revolutionizing the ways health care providers interact with their patients and get their work done. But the use of these devices comes with hidden costs of compliance, especially if they lead to a reportable breach under HIPAA or state laws. HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers have been struggling to keep up with the use of the devices to protect patient privacy and avoid compliance issues. Even if these devices aren't in formal use in your organization, you need to act now to anticipate their use and make sure they are used properly. This session is designed to provide intensive, two-day training in HIPAA compliance as it relates to the use of mobile devices, including how to use them with Protected Health Information, the policies and procedures you need to have in place to use them securely, and how to manage issues of the "BYOD" phenomenon. The session provides the background and details for any manager of health information privacy and security to know what issues to look for with mobile devices, what needs to be done for HIPAA compliance, and what can happen when compliance is not adequate. Audits and enforcement will be explained, as well as privacy and security breaches and how to prevent them. Numerous references and sample documents will be provided. The session will be valuable for both newcomers to HIPAA compliance as well as seasoned veterans. HIPAA compliance will be explained and discussed in detail, from the basics through the latest changes and new technology issues, so that the attendee will have a coherent u

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was legislated in 1996 with the primary aim of ensuring that employees who are in the process of changing or leaving their jobs do not lose their health insurance benefits. Additionally, HIPAA sought to bring down health care fraud and abuse by mandating pan-industry standards for the protection of health care information and automated billing and other related processes, and for ensuring the security of Protected Health Information (PHI). What is a HIPAA Security Audit? A HIPAA Security Audit is a program under the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Audit Program of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). A HIPAA Security Audit is carried out to make sure that the policies, processes and controls on the part of Covered Entities comply with the provisions of the HITECH Act of 2009. Adherence to the requirements laid out by HITECH is mandatory. Given the high degree of continued use of new technologies that go into and will continue to go into electronic records of patients and the criticality of the data contained in them; the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recognizes that there could be chances of data breach of Protected Health Information. It is to prevent the occurrence of these breaches that a HIPAA Security Audit is mandated by the HITECH Act. Reporting of data breaches is mandatory The foremost highlight of the HITECH Act is the requirement that Entities covered by HIPAA report data breaches that affect 500 or more employees to the HHS. The OCR lays out an Audit Protocol, with whose policies, protocols and processes a facility has to comply if it is said to be compliant with the HIPAA Security Audit. Why is it necessary to carry out a HIPAA/HITECH Security Audit? Compliance with HIPAA Security Audit is necessary to demonstrate that a practice or business is well protected. The most important reason for which such entities need to be HIPAA/HITECH Security

Overview: With the recent advances in portable technology, more and more organizations and their users are taking advantage of mobile devices to save time and get work done more efficiently. Texting, portable e-mail, and Apps are revolutionizing the ways health care providers interact with their patients and get their work done. But the use of these devices comes with hidden costs of compliance, especially if they lead to a reportable breach under HIPAA or state laws. HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers have been struggling to keep up with the use of the devices to protect patient privacy and avoid compliance issues. Even if these devices aren't in formal use in your organization, you need to act now to anticipate their use and make sure they are used properly. This session is designed to provide intensive, two-day training in HIPAA compliance as it relates to the use of mobile devices, including how to use them with Protected Health Information, the policies and procedures you need to have in place to use them securely, and how to manage issues of the "BYOD" phenomenon. The session provides the background and details for any manager of health information privacy and security to know what issues to look for with mobile devices, what needs to be done for HIPAA compliance, and what can happen when compliance is not adequate. Audits and enforcement will be explained, as well as privacy and security breaches and how to prevent them. Numerous references and sample documents will be provided. The session will be valuable for both newcomers to HIPAA compliance as well as seasoned veterans. HIPAA compliance will be explained and discussed in detail, from the basics through the latest changes and new technology issues, so that the attendee will have a coherent understanding of not only the rules, but also how to think about compliance and make sound compliance decisions on a day-to-day basis in the context of mobile devices. Agenda Day One Day one sets the stage with an ov

Overview: In this session we will discuss the HIPAA audit and enforcement programs and how they work, and discuss the areas that caused the most issues in prior audits. We will explore what kind of issues and what kind of entities had the most problems, and show where entities need to improve their compliance the most. We will also explore the typical risk issues that lead to breaches of health information and see how those issues may be a target for auditors in the new 2016 audits. We will review the contents of the HIPAA Audit Protocol used in 2012 to show what documentation needs to be on hand should your organization be selected for an audit in the new round. We will present methods for using the contents of the HIPAA Audit Protocol to build your own compliance plan by extracting and updating the contents and relating your compliance activities directly to the questions that might be asked. In this session we will discuss the HIPAA audit and enforcement regulations and processes, and how they apply to HIPAA covered entities and business associates. We will explain the enforcement regulations and the new, increased fines and new penalty levels, including new penalties for willful neglect of compliance that begin at $10,000. We will discuss what information and documentation must be prepared in advance so that you can be ready for an audit at any time, including sample information request forms and questions asked at prior audits. The session will also cover how to know if you may become the subject of an audit or enforcement action, and what you can do to help limit your exposure. We will discuss how most enforcement actions come about and what can be done to prevent incidents that lead to enforcement activity. The HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification regulations (and the recent changes to them) and how they will be audited will be explained. Documentation requirements for compliance will be explored and a framework of security policies necessary

Physicians were quite unsure about how to act to these facts. Of course, medical billing outsourcing companies can't proceed without their clients' consent. Therefore, HHS took it upon itself to explain all the complications that restrict healthcare professionals to benefit from this program.

Course "The A to Z's of HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules" has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: This session is designed to provide intensive, two-day training in HIPAA compliance, including what's new in the regulations, what's changed recently, and what needs to be addressed for compliance by covered entities and business associates. The session provides the background and details for any manager of healthcare information privacy and security to know what are the most important privacy and security issues, what needs to be done for HIPAA compliance, and what can happen when compliance is not adequate. Audits and enforcement will be explained, as well as privacy and security breaches and how to prevent them. Numerous references and sample documents will be provided. Who Will Benefit: * Information Security Officers * Risk Managers * Compliance Officers * Privacy Officers * Health Information Managers * Information Technology Managers * Medical Office Managers * Chief Financial Officers * Systems Managers * Legal Counsel * Operations Directors Agenda: Day One Day one sets the stage with an overview of the HIPAA regulations and then continues with presentation of the specifics of the Privacy Rule, recent changes to the rules, and the basics of the Security Rule Lecture 1: Overview of HIPAA Regulations * The Origins and Purposes of HIPAA * Privacy Rule History and Objectives * Security Rule History and Objectives * Breach Notification Requirements, Benefits, and Results Lecture 2: HIPAA Privacy Rule Principles, Policies and Procedures * Patient Rights under HIPAA * Limitations on Uses and Disclosures * Required Policies and Procedures * Training and Documentation Requirements Lecture 3: Recent and Proposed Changes to the HIPAA Rules * New Penalty Structure * New HIPAA Audit Program * New Patient Rights

Overview: Being in compliance with HIPAA involves not only ensuring you provide the appropriate patient rights and controls on your uses and disclosures of protected health information, but you also have the proper policies and procedures in place. If audited or the subject of a compliance review you will be required to show the government you have all the necessary documentation in place for safeguarding patient Protected Health Information and indicate how you addressed all required security safeguards. This starts with the understanding the fundamentals of a HIPAA and how you will be required to demonstrate your organization's compliance program. If your healthcare practice, business, or organization needs to understand how to be prepared for an increase in HIPAA enforcement and make sure your current safeguards are adequate and can withstand government scrutiny, please join us for this informative and interactive course. Why should you Attend: BAll most 120,000,000 individuals were affected by HIPAA data breaches in 2015. This is a significant reason why Congress has inquired about the recent and very sizeable increases in cyber-attacks that inflect the risk of medical identity theft. The HHS Office for Civil Rights not only are conducting audits but is looking to increase HIPAA enforcement. Attendees will leave the course clearly understanding of all the requirements that must be in place for HIPAA and how to demonstrate compliance if audited. After completing this course, a Covered Entity or Business Associate will be able to know what needs to be place when it comes to all of the HIPAA regulations. Areas Covered in the Session: Why was HIPAA created? What are the HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules? What is a HIPAA Risk Management Plan? What is meant by "Required" and "Addressable" Implementation Specifications? What are Administrative, Technical, and Physical Safeguards Requirements? What is a HIPAA Risk Assessment? What are HIPAA training requirement

Overview On January 17 2013 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced the final rule (the Omnibus Rule)

In August this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that ICD-10 coding will commence on October 1, 2015, and there will be no delay as has been in the past. The announc...

COVID emergency relief funds restrict medical billing services from sending surprise bills to patients on behalf of clinicians. Does this mean surprise billing is about to end?