PHI – Page 2 – Touchstone Compliance

HIPAA Privacy Rule. HIPAA Security Rule. What’s the Difference?

Eavesdrop on a conversation about HIPAA compliance and most likely you’ll hear the words “privacy” and “security” — sometimes separately, often together, and usually in the context of safeguarding patient information. “So, what exactly is the difference between ‘privacy’ and ‘security’ in relation to HIPAA compliance?” you ask. With today’s HIPAA Quick Tip I’ll try […]

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The Basics of Mobile Device Security for Protected Health Information

The single most common way Protected Health Information (PHI) is compromised is through the loss of devices themselves, whether this happens by accident or by theft. Technology — thumb drives, CDs, smart phones, tablets — has made it possible for large amounts of information to be tucked into our pockets or purses and carried to

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Basics of a Good Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA

Leave a Comment / Business Associate Agreement, HIPAA Security Rule, Omnibus Rule / Roman Diaz

When it comes to safeguarding Protected Health Information (PHI), you could say, “It takes a village.” The Omnibus Rule underscores the fact that protecting patients’ health information and their right to privacy is the responsibility today not only of healthcare providers, but also of their business associates (BAs) whose work requires them to access PHI.

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6 Symptoms of a Possible Computer Virus

Leave a Comment / HIPAA Quick Tip, HIPAA Security Rule / Roman Diaz

In your line of work, people come to you every day with symptoms. Chest pains. Chills. Blurred vision. Toothaches. And every day you draw on your years of medical, optometry, or dental training and your skills as a diagnostician to figure what’s wrong and how to fix it. As a healthcare professional, it’s what you

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Basic Guide to Thwarting Theft of Protected Health Information

Leave a Comment / HIPAA Quick Tip, HIPAA Security Rule / Roman Diaz

Fact: According to the latest HIPAA and Breach Enforcement Stats from the Office of Civil Rights (the arm of Health and Human Services responsible for HIPAA enforcement), theft is the leading cause of reported breaches. Last year, as a direct result of a breach report of a stolen unencrypted laptop, Concentra Health Services paid OCR

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Urban Legends & the HIPAA Risk Analysis

Leave a Comment / HIPAA Security Rule, risk assessment / Roman Diaz

Strange as it might seem, HIPAA compliance and the New York City sewer system share a connection. Both have given rise to “stories with little or no supporting evidence that spread spontaneously in varying forms and often have elements of humor, moralizing, or horror” — in other words, both contain the stuff of “urban legends.”

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Having Business Associate Agreements Can Save a Healthcare Office Boku Bucks

Leave a Comment / Business Associate Agreement, HIPAA Privacy Rule, HIPAA Security Rule, Omnibus Rule / Roman Diaz

“The times they are a changin’,” Bob Dylan sang in the Sixties. And they still are, especially when it comes to HIPAA and its regulaltions regarding Business Associate Agreements. The Omnibus Rule that went into effect in September of 2013 makes it clear that business associates of healthcare practices now have to comply with many

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How to Prepare for the Risk Assessment HIPAA Requires

Leave a Comment / risk assessment / Roman Diaz

My brother-in-law retired a few years ago after more than three decades in private practice. He ran his busy office the old fashioned way — without computers. His patients’ records were kept in manila folders filed in a wall of shelves. In longhand, his office manager recorded appointments in a big black book and

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A Practice’s Privacy Officer and Security Officer: The Batman & Robin of HIPAA Compliance

Leave a Comment / HIPAA Privacy Rule, HIPAA Security Rule / Roman Diaz

As part of HIPAA compliance, every healthcare office must have a Privacy Officer and a Security Officer. This article describes the responsibilities of each.

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Why Serious HIPAA Enforcement Is Inevitable

Leave a Comment / Electronic Health Records, HIPAA Security Rule / Roman Diaz

To borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) — the department in charge of HIPAA enforcement — got a “wag of the finger” a while back from the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. And that’s bound to have an impact on healthcare offices everywhere. A November

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