HIPAA Compliance for Optometry

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HIPAA Compliance for Optometry
Running a successful practice in todays
competitive eye care industry requires you to be
up to date and aware of everything that happens
under your roof. One of the key areas of practice
management that cannot be compromised is HIPAA
compliance within Optometry. Any missteps can
create a headache for everyone involved and can
lead to fines and the potential for
lawsuits. The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security
Rules are federal law. The Privacy Rule gives
individuals rights over their health information
and sets rules and limits on who can look at and
receive health information. The Security Rule
delineates safeguards to protect health
information in electronic form and helps to
ensure that electronically protected health
information is secure. Weve uncovered three
areas that many practices are out of HIPAA
compliance within Optometry and probably dont
even know it. Improper Document
Management Healthcare providers are still in a
bit of a transition period when it comes to
document management after the inception of EHR
systems nationwide. Its not uncommon to see
paper charts lying around an office as the task
of scanning and converting records to a digital
form is time-consuming.
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HIPAA Compliance for Optometry
As an example, more often than not, new patients
are asked to fill out their demographics and
health history on several paper forms at
check-in. Time and time again, these documents
are put into a bin to be shredded later down the
line. Depending on the size of the practice, some
offices utilize a shredding service and the
records pile up until their weekly scheduled
pick-up. This situation makes it far too easy for
these papers to get lost, stolen, or even placed
in the trash can by accident. In addition, if you
are on top of it and scanning the documentation
into your EHR right away, another major area of
HIPAA compliance within Optometry Billing is then
forgetting to delete the scanned file from your
desktop once uploaded into your EHR
system.   Disclosure of PHI In order to convert
patients into customers at the optical shop, its
important that your opticians have a clear
understanding of the visual needs and
recommendations youve discussed with the patient
in the exam room. How many times is this
information reviewed in a crowded waiting room,
allowing everyone to hear that Mr. J needs an
appointment for retinal photos and that hes
going to be a first-time progressive wearer? It
can be a complex situation, as you want to
maintain the integrity of your hand-off to the
optician, yet cant really disclose the amount of
information you need to. More often than not,
practitioners end up using hushed voices to tell
their staff the important details and hope that
they are not overheard by other patients in the
reception area.
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HIPAA Compliance for Optometry
Unprotected Storage Solutions Some EHR systems
allow for cloud-based storage, and this is an
effective solution when you can scan directly
into the system. However, think about the times
outside of your practice management software that
you might use patient information. Many
practitioners are still turning to Word or Google
Docs documents to generate documents like
referral letters for their patients. These
methods are neither secure in HIPAA Compliance
within Optometry. Any patient information stored
on a hard drive that isnt password protected and
has little in the way of encryption is a huge
violation of HIPAA compliance within Optometry.
Some types of copy and fax machines can even
store your data, making it a nightmare if it
isnt completely wiped before your lease is up
and the machine is returned. If you need to
bring your medical practice up to HIPAAs
standards, please contact Medical Billers and
Coders today through email info_at_medicalbillersand
coders.com or reach us at our toll-free
number [phone] and well ensure that your
medical practice is HIPAA compliant.   Reference
HIPAA Compliance within Optometry