North Carolina Dental Society Partnership

HIPAA and Cybersecurity: A Dental Practice’s Guide to Compliance

September 19, 2024 Penelope Schweitzer No comments yet

September 19, 2024 Did you know that medical information is one of the most valuable pieces of information for hackers to obtain? A health record sells for ten times the amount compared to a credit card on the dark web. In today’s digital world, technology has brought significant advancements to how dental practices operate, from communicating with patients to reviewing dental records. However, it has also introduced new challenges related to practice safety. Implementing strong cybersecurity measures is crucial for protecting your patients. Let’s dive into how to safeguard your practice and keep your patients safe in today’s cyber world. Complete a Security Risk Analysis (SRA) A requirement under HIPAA, the Security Risk Assessment (SRA) sets a benchmark for your dental practice’s compliance. The SRA highlights risks your practice might face, including technical safeguards and recommended cybersecurity measures. By monitoring the existing measures, you can identify non-compliant gaps and learn best practices to better protect your organization. Establishing a strong foundation for your practice brings you one step closer to HIPAA compliance by showing you how to keep your patient data secure. Establish Access Controls One of the most common HIPAA violations is improper access to electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI). Robust access controls are essential to prevent this. Each staff member should have a unique login with permissions strictly aligned to their job duties. These logins should also require staff to change their passwords periodically, including at least eight characters with symbols, numbers, and lowercase and uppercase letters. This safeguards sensitive patient data and facilitates effective monitoring for potential security breaches. Additionally, monitoring employee activity helps ensure access privileges are used appropriately. Encrypt all ePHI Encryption, or encoding data so that it is unreadable by unauthorized users, is a staple of having strong cybersecurity measures in place for your practice. It should be used on all devices storing sensitive data and facilitating patient communication, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access it. Encrypted data and devices can protect sensitive information if a work laptop falls into the wrong hands. Another cybersecurity best practice is to enable remote deletion on the computer so that it can be wiped from another functioning device. Overall, encryption serves as an additional barrier to protecting patient data and keeping sensitive information secure in dental practices. Ensure Adequate Cybersecurity Training for All Staff It is crucial to ensure that staff understand expectations and cybersecurity best practices to keep patient data safe. Training is important to help staff understand how to handle sensitive information and how to share ePHI (electronic protected health information) securely. Thorough training will empower staff to maintain the security of patient data and uphold the best cybersecurity practices, helping create a culture of compliance in your practice. Outsource IT Automating your HIPAA compliance program with secure software helps protect your practice and streamline compliance. Additionally, outsourcing your IT measures is another responsibility your organization can delegate to an expert team. Expert teams can monitor your cybersecurity health and provide penetration testing, emulating whether your practice can handle a hacking attack. With specialized healthcare IT support, your practice can rest assured that the proper firewalls, encryption, and other protections are in place to safeguard it. The Future of Cybersecurity in Dentistry Robust cybersecurity measures are essential in today’s dental industry. The OCR continues to lead cybersecurity efforts and is starting to impose fines on practices affected by cybercrimes. By ensuring that your dental practice is HIPAA compliant and follows cybersecurity best practices, you can protect your practice’s success and the safety of your patients’ information. To learn more about the best cybersecurity practices for your dental practice, schedule a HIPAA consultation with a compliance expert today.

Fines, HIPAA

HIPAA for Dental Practices: Avoid the Most Common Fines

June 26, 2024 Gaurav Modi Comments Off

June 26, 2024 Did you know that as of 2023, less than half of dental offices in the United States are fully HIPAA compliant? Dentists play a crucial role in maintaining oral health and ensuring the safety of their patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI). Although HIPAA regulations can be complex, it’s essential to understand and comply with them to protect your dental practice and patients. This article explores the most common HIPAA fines for dentists and how you can manage them. Right of Access Under HIPAA, patients can access their medical records within 30 days of the first request and should not be charged unreasonable costs. Dentists have been fined several times for violating this right. A practice in Georgia took over a year to provide a patient with her medical records after she refused to pay a $170 copying fee. This incident violated the 30-day timeline, and the fee was also deemed unreasonable, resulting in a fine of $80,000. To uphold a patient’s right to access their medical records, it’s vital to manage record requests promptly and organize them. It’s also essential to avoid charging excessive fees for accessing these records. If you’re unsure about what would be considered a reasonable fee, the OCR has issued guidance suggesting a flat fee of a maximum of $6.50 for accessing records. Social Media Usage On top of managing your practice’s reputation in person, you have to manage it online. Online reviews are a shared resource patients use while selecting a new dentist. 94% of patients use online reviews while choosing a new medical provider. However, while managing your online presence, you must be HIPAA compliant. This means not sharing any of your patient’s PHI in reviews. A dental practice in North Carolina was fined $50,000 for improperly sharing a patient’s PHI online in response to a negative review. The practice shared significant PHI about the patient, which discredited the original review. No matter how inaccurate or false a review may be, sharing a patient’s PHI online is never justifiable. Keeping responses short and sweet is essential to avoid making a social media mistake. Even if someone has shared information in their review, you can’t mention that they are a patient at your practice. It’s essential to use a brief and general response while navigating HIPAA. If you receive a negative review, it’s crucial to stay calm. Getting upset for a few seconds isn’t worth facing thousands of dollars in fines. Next, take the conversation to a private channel. Respond to the comment with HIPAA-compliant communication, such as providing a phone number or encrypted email to further discuss the patient’s experience. Cybersecurity Access In our technology-driven world, most, if not all, dental practices utilize technology to create and store patient data. In recent years, cybersecurity concerns and hacks have infiltrated the healthcare system, with hacking causing 77% of large breaches. Controlling and training staff on technology use is vital for protecting your practice. In a rare case, a HIPAA violation resulted in jail time for an employee at a dental practice. This employee, a receptionist, abused her access to PHI, stealing patients’ identities and making significant purchases with them. She was sentenced to two to six years in prison for her crime. Encrypt and secure information properly to avoid cybersecurity-related fines. Additionally, assign roles and access to employees individually, with every employee having their own login. Periodically review employee access and activity to ensure technology is being used correctly. How Software Can Help There’s a better way to simplify the compliance process for your dental practice. Software offers the ability to streamline your administrative tasks, saving you time and letting you focus on taking care of your patients. Automated and dynamic software helps you be proactive in avoiding these common mistakes, pinpointing your vulnerabilities, and resolving them effectively. Schedule a consultation here to learn more about how Abyde’s intelligent solutions can help create a culture of compliance and protect your practice.

Best Practices, OSHA

Smile with Confidence: Promoting Safety in Dentistry

April 16, 2024 Gaurav Modi Comments Off

April 16, 2024 Happy Toothsday! Okay, okay, yes, we know that was bad. Regardless, we hope you’re having a lovely beginning of the week. Working in dentistry can be very rewarding, You know that confident feeling of rocking a fantastic smile? In dentistry, you get to create that feeling for people every day. However, dentistry comes with challenges, like working with sharps daily and the possible exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Here at Abyde, we’re all about prevention and safety. Today, we’re jumping right into promoting safety in dental offices. By following the right procedures, you can focus on what’s important: creating dazzling smiles! Gear Up for Grins When working at your practice, having the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is vital. PPE encompasses all the protective gear you need to wear to ensure your safety while working with patients. This includes equipment like: While your masks and gloves might not be the most fashionable statement pieces, by rocking the correct PPE, you can minimize exposure to germs and other dental hazards, keeping you safe. Let’s face it (pun intended!), dentistry can get a little…messy at times. That’s where PPE comes in! Face shields and glasses act as your splash guards, keeping your eyes protected from any flying fluids or debris. Gloves also minimize contact, keeping your hands covered when delivering exceptional patient care. This way, you can focus on creating beautiful smiles without worrying about exposure. Syringe Savvy Using sharps is part of the dental world. That’s why we recommend the latest and safest tools. Think of it this way: those fancy safety features on your dental devices aren’t just bells and whistles – they’re game-changers! Sure, change can be a bit daunting, but these innovations are designed to make your practice safer, smoother, and ultimately, more awesome. Some of the common safety tools include: Bite-sized Learning When protecting your staff, training is key. With excellent training, your staff can be equipped with the knowledge they need to be safe. This includes mastering the proper steps for sharps and bloodborne pathogens, two of the most common safety issues in a dentist’s office. These situations can be tricky, but with the proper training, your team can conquer any challenge with ease. How Abyde Can Help We know that paperwork and regulations can feel like a cavity that just won’t quit. That’s why we make it simple. Abyde is a software solution that makes compliance easy. With Abyde, we offer a variety of resources to make compliance a breeze, including training on everything you need for dental compliance. To learn more about what it takes to be compliant in your dental practice, email us at info@abyde.com and schedule a consultation here.

Abyde Joins Forces With North Carolina Dental Society to Deliver HIPAA Compliance Solutions to Dental Practices

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