Staying compliant with HIPAA’s fundraising requirements

[Roger Steven]

Rules implementing The Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2003 (HITECH) underwent changes as a result of amendments brought about by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2013.

Fundraising is among the areas of change these rules covered. Important areas such as the methods and practice that hospitals, their institutionally related foundations, and other healthcare charities may or must exercise when using any patient or client information for fundraising amendments have been modified significantly.

Change in types of information to be used for fundraising

The new rules include specific operational requirements, some of which prohibit protocols that were required under the original HIPAA regulations. The types of information that may be used for fundraising have also changed significantly under these amendments. As a result, there are now numerous fundraising opportunities, as well as challenges on the use and storage of related information.

Joel Simon, an expert on the fundraising aspects of HIPAA and one of the nation’s leading experts on the fundraising aspects of HIPAA, will be the speaker at a webinar that MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will be organizing to offer clarity on the fundraising aspects of HIPAA.  To enroll for this webinar, register by logging on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800867LIV....

Implementing compliant strategies

The import of the most important words mandated by HIPPA-related regulations changed in multiple areas. Joel will explain how to effectively implement the fundraising regulations in a manner that increases both opportunities for philanthropic support and stays compliant with the new mandates. The speaker will suggest ways by which to ensure that an organization is both legally compliant and operationally effective.

This learning is important for a number of reasons:

-        Fundraising institutions that have access to of HIPAA Protected Health Information need to be aware of opportunities to strategize their fundraising in order to maximize philanthropic revenue for their organizations;

-        Fundraising organizations that use telephone or e-mail solicitations need to learn how new specific provisions of HIPAA now govern their fundraising activity, as well as effective policies to put in place to implement these rules;

-        Health related institutions that go for fundraising must make sure their fundraising practices meet compliance requirements and minimize the compliance risks and satisfy mandates governing the use of patient/client information;

-        A healthcare professional who is affiliated with a fundraising institution should know how to remain both ethically and legally compliant with patient privacy, while assisting both her affiliated institution and her patient/client;

-        Institutions will need to learn about compliance requirements for donor database management, as well as how to implement effective and efficient strategies needed to maintain compliance.

-        Keeping fundraising communication and related policies compliant without impairing operational effectiveness is important.

Joel will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• New types PHI that may be used for fundraising
• New requirements for Notice of Privacy Practices
• New requirements for protocols to allow patients to opt-out of using their PHI for fundraising.