Understanding HIPAA Compliance Requirements

[Roger Steven]

An organization that needs to be HIPAA compliant has to not only ensure that it provides the appropriate patient rights and controls on its uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI); it has to also have the proper policies and procedures in place. Any organization that is the subject of a compliance review or is being audited has to demonstrate to the government that it has both the documentation necessary for safeguarding patient PHI, as well as the ability to show how it is addressing all of the required security safeguards.

Steep increase in number of HIPAA data breaches

A full understanding of the requirements of a compliance program has become all the more important in the background of an increase in HIPAA enforcement and with Phase 2 audits, about which Covered Entities and Business Associates that are going to get audited will be notified soon, getting underway.

If an organization has to put all of the required documentation aspects together in place; it needs to have a very good understanding of the ways of putting in place a HIPAA compliance program with which to ensure that the current program is adequate and can withstand government scrutiny. They ways by which an organization can do all these will be the topic of a webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry. To enroll for this webinar, just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800869LIVE/.

Jay Hodes, who is President and Founder, Colington Security Consulting, LLC, will be the speaker at this webinar. He will take participants through a full tour of the subtleties of HIPAA compliance that an organization needs to understand if it has to get through HIPAA compliance without hassles.

Jay will equip the participants with a thorough understanding of all the requirements needed for a comprehensive HIPAA compliance program and explain what steps need to be taken to mitigate risk. He will cover the following areas at this discussion:

• 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 requirements?
• What is a HIPAA data breach and what happens if it occurs?
• What are the penalties and fines for non-compliance and how to avoid them?
• Preparing for a HIPAA Audit
• Creating a Culture of Compliance
• Questions