Skip to main content

Why You Should Do HIPAA Compliance Training Every Year

More than 10.5 million data records get lost or stolen every single day.


Many of the breaches are accidental and the result of an oversight or lack of training. These breaches prove especially problematic for doctors because HIPAA laws protect patient information.


Then there are the more mundane ways of unintentionally exposing patient information. Posting photographs from work onto social media, for example, can violate HIPAA.


If an employee accidentally exposes patient information, it can mean serious trouble for the practice.


Yearly HIPAA compliance training helps to protect the practice. It also helps employees avoid some obvious and not so obvious mistakes.


Discover why HIPPA compliance training is essential every year.


New Employees May Have Missed HIPAA Compliance Training


Many new hires happen during growth periods to help pick up the slack. That means that things are probably hectic at the office. It’s easy to miss a step in new employee onboarding under those conditions.


If HIPAA compliance training only happens during onboarding, the new employee never gets the training. That could prove disastrous if they unwittingly violate a patient’s confidentiality.


It’s also worth noting that inadequate training is one of the top five reasons new employees jump ship in the first six months.


Annual compliance training for all employees means that, sooner or later, everyone gets up to speed.


Changing EMR Software


The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandated that practices serving Medicare and Medicaid patients begin adoption of electronic medical records.


Let’s say you’ve been using EMR software that you don’t like and decide to switch to Raintree. No matter how sophisticated it is, no software can automate for every nuance of the HIPAA regulations. Just as importantly, it takes time for software developers to catch up to changing interpretations of the regulations.


Compliance training lets employees make good decisions about data handling in the system. It also allows them to manually adjust for nuances the software isn’t programmed to automate.


Avoiding Data Breaches


There’s a whole section of HIPAA devoted to security measures for data.


What’s more, the Office of Health and Human Services is taking those breaches seriously. One company settled with the HHS for $5.5 million after a series of data breaches.


Some security happens at the network and system levels. The rest happens at the individual level.


For example, employees may need to take devices that contain sensitive information off-site. Notebook computers, tablets, and flash drives often contain such information. If the devices lack encryption or are left unattended, it’s a short step to a data breach.


Periodic HIPAA compliance training ensures employees are up to speed on the proper handling of portable devices.


Parting Thoughts


Annual HIPAA compliance training is a simple way to avoid a lot of expensive problems.


It positions employees to deal better with EMR systems as guidance on regulations evolves. It reduces the odds of accidental data breaches by driving home best practices. It also serves as a failsafe for the practice in case the onboarding process was incomplete.


If employee training suffers because billing soaks up too much time, check out our article on the benefits of outsourcing your billing.


The post Why You Should Do HIPAA Compliance Training Every Year appeared first on ArticleCity.com.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Quiting Smoking Is Not an Easy Task

Quitting smoking is not an easy task. After you stop smoking, there quite a few physical and neurological symptoms your body goes through. Depression is also among the most common negative effects of quitting smoking. Catchy slogans make people mindful of the need to stop smoking because of its life-threatening consequences on health. There are a number of memories and habits connected with smoking, for instance, some folks start their day using a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Now that we've seen the psychological unwanted side effects of stopping smoking, let's also take a look at physical ones. Stopping smoking is the start of the program that may help cleanse the body after many years of toxin development. Smoking causes buildup of toxins within the body particularly in the lungs. Once somebody quits smoking, the body attempts to eradicate the damaging chemicals which might have accumulated overtime. Your lungs begin to clear out mucus and other smoking debris, whilst ...

Improve Your Bottom Line With Successful Facebook Marketing Strategies

Improve Your Bottom Line With Successful Facebook Marketing Strategies It is best if you post coupons on Sundays. You must include quotes in your posts. Do you want to include accurate information that people are attracted to? Read the article below and get a good understanding of what Facebook marketing is all about. If you're using Facebook to market, make sure you're also posting there! No one will visit a page which rarely ever has updated content on it. Don't overwhelm your followers, but be sure to post at least once per weekday so that people will often check back just to see what's going on. If you want to use Promoted Posts, do so only with your current fan base. When a non-fan sees "Promoted", they think it's a "Sponsored Ad" and tend not to click on it. Your current fans won't think that way as they already know who you are and what you do, and obviously like it. Don't be afraid to promote yourself. You often here that it's...

5 Ways to Build Muscle Mass That Are Legal

If you’re trying to build muscle mass, you know how frustrating it can be when you don’t get great results. You’ve put all the time and effort into perfecting your form but you’re still not looking bigger. It can be tempting to resort to dangerous or illegal methods like steroids, but they will harm your body . Before you give up or try steroids, follow this simple guide to increase muscle mass legally! 5 Ways to Build Muscle Mass That Are Legal 1. Use Progressive Resistance Training It makes sense that the easiest way to build muscle mass is to hit the gym, right? But it your workout may need a bit of a change up if you’re focusing on the wrong elements. Instead of going for lower reps of higher weights, switch to a Progressive Resistance Training workout for better results. If you’re unfamiliar with the PRT method, it’s the inverse of what you’re likely doing. Instead of focusing on those higher weights, you’ll do more reps at a l...