Why You Should be Scared

Up to this point, most private practice physicians treat HIPAA compliance as…”something we’ll get to.”

Most docs think their practice is compliant…they are wrong.

I’ve mentioned before the threat of lawsuits and now this article.

If this quote doesn’t send chills up your spine, then I don’t know what will:

““The privacy data breach area offers some new opportunities to expand the types of cases that we’re handling,” said Eric Grover, partner at the seven-lawyer California law firm Keller Grover.”

So what should I do?

The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that HIPAA compliance is a reality…and that is a threat.  Next you need to stop looking at HIPAA compliance as this “BS red-tape government program” and accept that, like taxes, this isn’t going away.

Now, switch your thinking from “having to do this” to How do I reduce my risk?

Let me break this down as simple as I can:

• You need to do a risk assessment on your practice or you have no clue where you stand
• You need to have current HIPAA policies in place or your staff doesn’t know where you stand
• You need to ensure HIPAA training occurs on regular basis – along with HIPAA security reminders

Take care of these first few items and everything will start falling into place.