Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/704577
32 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT The Low Hanging Fruit of HIPAA Compliance: 8 Best Practices By Anuja Vaidya H IPAA rule violations can cost physician practices — mone- tarily, operationally and with regard to their reputation. In extreme cases, HIPAA violations can result in a practice being excluded from Medicare or even jail time. In April 2016, Raleigh (N.C.) Orthopaedic Clinic agreed to pay a $750,000 settlement for an alleged HIPAA violation. According to the HHS, the clinic handed over protected health information for around 17,300 patients to a potential business partner without entering into a business associate agreement. In addition to paying the settlement, the clinic was required to revise its policies and procedures related to this incident. "It's very important for physician practices to recognize their role in protecting patient information, in all forms, from unauthorized disclosure and to invest in services that safeguard their electronic in- formation systems that handle patient information," says David Holtz- man, JD, CIPP, vice president of compliance strategies, Cynergistek. "is means that, at minimum, they should have a comprehensive information security risk assessment that looks at all of the technology that creates, stores or transmits patient information to identify threats and vulnerabilities." Challenges to HIPAA compliance Remaining compliant to HIPAA rules and regulations can be chal- lenging for a number of reasons. According to Aaron Tantleff, partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, the HIPAA Security Rule does not actually provide guidance with respect to any particular method of storage or transmission of electronic patient health information, or ePHI. is means that healthcare organizations have flexibility when it comes to HIPAA compliance solutions, but it can also be a daunting task, especially due to the proliferation technol- ogy and third-party solutions. "In some cases, it becomes nearly impossible for a vendor to be able to determine what information, if any, has become vulnerable to a security incident," says Mr. Tantleff. Interoperability, or lack thereof, among technologies and systems also makes HIPAA compliance a challenge for physician practices. "Given the number of different parties and different solutions inter- acting with each other, there may be an instant where two or more solutions are unable to communicate. In some cases, the type of encryption is incompatible and ePHI may end up being transmitted in an unencrypted manner," says Mr. Tantleff. Additionally, healthcare organizations today are required to do more, with less. is means organizations may not be able to hire and retain enough properly trained staff members to ensure HIPAA compliance. n Orthopedic Surgeons Leave Salina Regional Over On-Call Payment Dispute: 5 Things to Know By Laura Dyrda S alina (Kan.) Regional Health Center terminated priv- ileges for the surgeons of Orthopaedic Sports Clinic of Salina after refusing to pay on-call fees the group demanded, according to a KSAL report. The Orthopaedic Sports Clinic of Salina ended its affiliation with Salina Regional Hospital this weekend when the two were unable to reach an agreement over on-call coverage. Here are five things to know: 1. Salina Regional's policy is any physician with privileges at the hospital must provide on-call services, which OSHC physicians did in the past. However, in February OSHC physicians asked for $1,800-per-day fees for on-call days or $500,000 annually. 2. The hospital was unwilling to pay the on-call fees. As a result, OSHC notified the hospital on April 22 its physicians would resign medical staff privileges on April 30. 3. Salina Regional maintained paying the on-call fees would be "unaffordable" and is unusual for communities its size. VMG Health's on-call survey shows orthopedic surgery 24-hour on-call coverage rates ranged from $800 to $1,100 per day from 2006 to 2009. 4. Two orthopedic surgeons were hired onto the hospital's team to provide orthopedic care and on-call services at Salina Regional since OSHC left. Both orthopedic surgeons were hired full-time. 5. Orthopaedic Sports Health Clinic of Salina includes six satellite clinics and four physicians. n