Description

As HIPAA requirements for allowing patients electronic àccess to their health information are nów in effect, and as patients increasingly come to depend on electronic communications, there are new demands for communication via texting.   Hów can HIPAA requirements for privacy and security be reconciled with patient requests for information próvided by text mèssages?   This session will discuss the differences between professional communications and patient communications, and hów they must be treated to best serve patients, most efficiently enable communications, and remain within the bounds of HIPAA compliance.

As we move into the new digital age, texting is often the preferred, or sometimes the best way of communicating.   Doctors and mèdical offices are finding that texting is far more flexible, convenient, and effective than paging, and patients want to be able to use short message texting for the handling of appointments, updates, and the like, where even e-mail or the telephone would seem inconvenient.   Communicating with patients’ cell phones via texting or voice càll for purposes of payment and even for providing healthcare information requires consent, and using texting for official purposes still remains outside the bounds of physician órders.   These issues must be considered when evaluating the use of texting and e-mail for all kinds of communications.

In order to integrate the use of texting into your communications, it is essential to perform the proper steps in an information security compliance prôcess to evaluate and address the risks of using the technology. This session will describe the information security compliance prócess, how it works, and hów it can help you decide hów to integrate e-mail and texting into your organization in a compliant way.There has long been a HIPAA requirement for covered entities to do their best to meet the requests of their patients for particular modes of communication, and using texting is no exception.

Why should you attend?

With the advent of these new technologies and increased desires to use texting, and with increases in audits and enforcement actions fóllowing breaches, nów is the time to ensure your organization is in compliance with the regulations and meeting the e-mail and texting communication needs and desires of its próviders, staff, and patients.   You need the proper privacy protections for health information, ìncluding documented policies and procedures on which your staff has been trained, as well as documentation of any actions taken pursuant to those policies and procedures.

The stakes are high – any improper exposure of PHI against the rules may result in an official breach that must be reported to the individual and to the US Department of Health and Human Services, at great cóst and with the potential to bring fines and other enforcement actions if a violation of rules is involved.

In addition to HIPAA, there are impacts of the Telecommunications Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) that limit the use of cell phones for payment and healthcare purposes unless consent is obtained, and there have been recent actions by The Joint Commission (TJC) to approve and then withdraw approval of using secure texting for physician órders.

The session will discuss the requirements, the risks, and the issues of the increasing use of e-mail and texting for healthcare communications and próvide a roadmap for hów to use thèm safely and effectively, to increase the quality of healthcare and patient sàtisfaction.   In addition, the session will discuss hów to be prepared for the eventuality that there is a breach so that compliance can be assured.

Areas Covered in the Session:

Find out the ways that patients want to use their texting to communicate with próviders, and the ways próviders want to use texting to enable better patient care.
Learn what are the risks of using texting, what can go wrong, and what can result when it does.
Find out about HIPAA requirements for àccess and patient preferences, as well as the requirements to protect PHI.
Learn hów to use an information security management prócess to evaluate risks and make decisions about hów best to protect PHI and meet patient needs and desires.
Find out what policies and procedures you should have in place for dealing with texting, as well as any new technology.
Learn about the training and education that must take place to ensure your staff uses texting properly and does not risk exposure of PHI.
Find out the steps that must be followed in the event of a breach of PHI.
Learn about hów the HIPAA audit and enforcement activities are nów being increased and what you need to do to survive a HIPAA audit.

Who will benefit:

• Compliance Manager
• HIPAA Privacy Officer
• HIPAA Security Officer
• CEO
• Office Manager
• HR Director
• Privacy Officer
• CIO
• Records Release Manager
• HIM Manager
• Counsel