Why HIPAA Compliance Matters for Therapy Providers

by Dr. Jessica Levine, Product Specialist

Have you ever seen an old black-and-white image or video clip of a medical facility from the early 20th century? The rooms, equipment, and beds appear vastly different from what they do today. It always amazes me how much our society has evolved in the healthcare industry. Not just with the standard of care, but with protecting patients’ information. Did you know that later in the 20th century, the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted to protect patients’ private health information (PHI)? Similar to viewing old black-and-white photographs of infirmaries and hospitals, it is hard to imagine a time when HIPAA did not exist.

Today, HIPAA has set the standard for providers to keep patients’ and clients’ medical records private and confidential. In fact, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) conducts routine audits of entities that receive reimbursement for claims from federal programs and their business associates to ensure they are HIPAA compliant (Grahovac, 2021). Being HIPAA compliant is just as important as the services healthcare professionals provide for their patients and clients. The same is true for therapy providers. There are multiple measures therapy providers can put in place to ensure their agencies are following the regulations outlined in the HIPAA guidelines. We’ll explore what that looks like in this blog, along with the benefits and supports. 

HIPAA-Compliant Measures

For starters, agencies should have a HIPAA compliance program that includes HIPAA policies and procedures, training opportunities for employees, and an ongoing risk analysis procedure (Grahovac, 2021). They should also evaluate the probability and implications of potential breaches of patients’ PHI, fostering security measures to address issues found in the risk analysis, recording security measures and the reason for implementing them, and maintaining continuous security protections to support entities in remaining HIPAA compliant (Chen & Benusa, 2017). Regardless of the size of the agency, there should be a plan in place to protect individuals’ PHI and minimize the chances of any HIPAA violations. This usually means having a designated individual or team that leads the efforts of fostering a HIPAA-compliant environment.

One way to support therapy providers in keeping patients’ PHI confidential is to provide specific training that covers safety topics such as HIPAA, cybersecurity, and electronic health record (EHR) software. These trainings should be current and ongoing, so providers are up-to-date with the latest information. In many instances, providers participate in a HIPAA training at least once a year. Cybersecurity trainings often occur more frequently to ensure providers are aware of the dangers of not securely protecting their private and company information. Many entities engage in phishing campaigns to give their providers experience with positively maneuvering similar attacks. EHR software training should be ongoing as well, especially as software updates occur.

Another practical tip that can help therapy providers with being HIPAA compliant is to be cognizant of where patients’ PHI is accessed. Patients’ PHI should only be accessed in a secure location with minimal risk of unauthorized individuals viewing this information. Therapy providers should use HIPAA-compliant EHR software on a secure network to access their clients’ information. After accessing the information, providers should log out of the software and device. PHI should be backed up to minimize loss of data in the case of a breach. If there are hard copies of documents that contain patients’ PHI, those items should be locked and stored in a secure location as well (Chen & Benusa, 2017). 

In addition, conducting internal audits can promote compliance with HIPAA regulations for therapy providers. Agencies following HIPAA’s requirements should have an audit trail of who accessed patients’ PHI and when the information was accessed.

Benefits of Being HIPAA-Compliant

Although agencies strive to be HIPAA compliant because they do not want to incur fines or lose their licenses, there are many benefits agencies reap as a result of their adherence to this law. One benefit is having an upstanding reputation. Think about it: would you eat at a restaurant that consistently fails its health inspection? More than likely, you wouldn’t. The same applies to healthcare entities. When providers have a negative reputation, they are at risk of losing current clients and deterring future ones.

Furthermore, clients will experience less stress knowing that their PHI will remain confidential with HIPAA-compliant agencies. Since patients have the right to determine who can access their PHI outside of the agency, they should feel confident knowing that their information is not being disclosed to unauthorized individuals.  

How can Office Puzzle Support Therapy Providers be HIPAA Compliant?

Office Puzzle is a practice management software that has embedded safeguards in place to support agencies with being HIPAA compliant. Clients’ PHI is securely stored on the password-protected platform. There is also a feature that allows agency administrators to view providers’ access activity as a way to minimize suspicious activity or access by unauthorized individuals. At Office Puzzle, we know that managing an agency comes with countless moving parts, such as scheduling, documentation, compliance, billing, and communication. Our mission is to help agencies streamline operations, so providers can focus on delivering quality care to their clients. In other words: we help you put the pieces of the puzzle together!

References

Chen, J. Q., & Benusa, A. (2017). HIPAA security compliance challenges: 

The case for small healthcare providers. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 10(2), 135– 146. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2016.1270875 

Grahovac, K. S. (2021). The Importance of Compliance with the Health 

Insurance Portability Act (HIPAA): Creating and Maintaining a HIPAA Compliance Program Does Not Have to Be a Daunting Task. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 23(1), 57–60.

Categories