HIPAA Compliance with the New Omnibus Rule: How to Pass an Audit to Avoid Penalties and Criminal Convictions
Jonathan P. Tomes , J.D., is Keynote Speaker at Compliance key Inc. He is a health care attorney practicing in the greater Kansas City. He is a nationally recognized authority and expert witness on the legal requirements for health information. Jon has written more than 60 books.
Webinar Id: HIPHJPT001
12:30 PM PT | 03:30 PM ET
01/18/2018
Duration: 60 mins
Overview
Before the HITECH Act, DHHS could audit covered entities for HIPAA compliance, but did not have to. With that Act, now the must audit those entities and business associates as well. In the first audits, the Phase I audits, DHHS came on site. The subsequent Phase II audits, however, were paper audits in which those audited had to provide documentation of their compliance. As yet, we do not know what form Phase III will take, but the necessary actions to prepare will be largely the same whether the audit is purely a paper one or includes an on-site component.
Why should you attend this webinar?
If you are audited and found to be non-compliant, you could face civil money penalties, supervised Corrective Action Plans, bad publicity with concomitant loss of patients, and significant remediation costs.
Civil money penalties to date range from $50,000 to two in the $4 million range. Some of these penalties resulted from improper access by a workforce member, improper use, or improper disclosure. Such improper actions can also result in criminal liability. A physician went to federal prison for improper chart access. A nurse was convicted of improperly using PHI to threaten a lawsuit.
Nor are these penalties reserved for large practices. Fines have been assessed against two-physician practices and a small hospice in North Dakota. Being not-for-profit provides no immunity, nor does being a government entity. Alaska Medicaid was fined $1.5 million; and a county government (Skagit County in Washington State), $215,000.
Civil money penalties to date range from $50,000 to two in the $4 million range. Some of these penalties resulted from improper access by a workforce member, improper use, or improper disclosure. Such improper actions can also result in criminal liability. A physician went to federal prison for improper chart access. A nurse was convicted of improperly using PHI to threaten a lawsuit.
Nor are these penalties reserved for large practices. Fines have been assessed against two-physician practices and a small hospice in North Dakota. Being not-for-profit provides no immunity, nor does being a government entity. Alaska Medicaid was fined $1.5 million; and a county government (Skagit County in Washington State), $215,000.
Areas Covered in the Session:
- Overview of HIPAA and the Security and Privacy Rules.
- The Requirement for DHHS to Audit.
- Audits to Date.
- Who audits?
- Phase I audits.
- Phase II audits.
- Audit Findings.
- Possible penalties for failing audits.
- Benefits of preparing for audits.
- Will you be audited?
- Preparing for audits.
- Audit protocol.
- Gap analysis.
- Risk Analysis.
- Prioritizing remediation.
- Key areas DHHS focuses on.
- Documentation.
- Conclusion and Question and Answer.
Who can Benefit:
Health Professionals and their staffs, Privacy and Security Officers, Medical Records Professionals, IT Professionals, Office Managers, Risk Managers, Business Associates of Covered Entities (those that provide a service for the Covered Entity involving the use of individually identifiable health information (transcription services, billing services, cloud storage companies, and the like), Healthcare Attorneys, Compliance Officers, HIPAA consultants
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717-208-8666
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