By Aris Medical Solutions
The Office for Civil Rights announced in August they would be working with their Regional Offices to more widely investigate the causes of breaches that affects less than 500 patient records. The Regional Offices will use their own discretion to prioritize which breaches to investigate.
Some of the factors they will be considering include:
- The number of records affected
- Intrusions of the IT systems
- The sensitivity of the data
- Whether the data was unencrypted or disposed of improperly
- Number of breaches from the same entity including business associates
- The lack of reported breaches when comparing similar situations with specific covered entities and business associates
Here are some helpful tips to avoid data breaches:
- Confirm fax numbers and email address BEFORE sending.
- Do not permit ANYONE access to your systems without confirming their identity and verifying they are still employed with that particular company.
- Do not click on links in emails, instead, open your browser and go to the website.
- Make sure all accesses to ePHI utilizes strong passwords, preferably passphrases.
- Change your passwords/phrases at least every 90 days. This includes your EHR, PM software, workstation operating system, and email access.
- If a two-step authentication is available, make sure it is engaged.
- Use encryption whenever possible, depending on the operating system you use, it may be FREE!
- Request a network security audit to be performed that includes remediation.
- Do not retain records longer than necessary, why have that exposure if it is not required!
- Make sure everyone involved with Patient Data is HIPAA Compliant.
As we mentioned last month, enforcement of HIPAA is here and you must ensure that if you are audited or investigated you have all of the appropriate documentation in place. Remember… if it is not documented, it doesn’t exist!
If you are one of the many organizations that simply do not have the time to do this, you are not alone. We offer a full range of services from a Do-It-Yourself HIPAA program to a Full HIPAA Implementation package. Call Aris at 877.659.2467 or click here to schedule a demo.
