HIPAA

Ethical Importance of HIPAA Compliance
Best Practices, HIPAA

Beyond the Law: The Ethical Importance of HIPAA Compliance

April 8, 2024 Comments Off on Beyond the Law: The Ethical Importance of HIPAA Compliance

April 8, 2024 It’s Monday! Here’s to the beginning of another awesome week of taking care of patients or running your business!  Today, we’re starting the week off with some reflection.   While the monetary component of fines is no laughing matter; there’s something even more important than money when it comes to violating compliance standards: eroding personal ethics.  Think about it – wouldn’t you rather be known for your integrity and trustworthiness? Not just for avoiding fines, but for doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do? Your character is what people remember, in business and out. Make it one you’re proud of! HIPAA: Much More Than a Law Many take an oath when you join the medical field as a healthcare worker. This oath details a core principle: first, do no harm.  Now, securing a patient’s data might not be the first thing someone thinks of as protecting a patient, but in today’s digital age, safeguarding their data is equally crucial.  Let’s face it, seeking medical help often involves sharing deeply personal and sometimes scary details about our health. HIPAA empowers patients by creating a safe space for these conversations, so the last thing a healthcare worker wants to do is erode their trust with non-compliance.  With technological advancements, a data breach really can put a patient at risk.  A data breach can expose a patient’s most sensitive information – name, address, social security number, medical history. This can make them vulnerable to identity theft, targeted scams, and more.  Unfortunately, Protected Health Information (PHI) is at the top of the list for malicious hackers to expose. The value of a health record can be worth as much as $1,000 on the dark web!  It’s up to your practice or business to keep patients’ information safe.  We’ve seen the repercussions of a violation, not only with the hefty fines but with the years of corrective measures and monitoring a practice or business has to go through.  A Corrective Action Plan (CAP) from the OCR can be a major blow to an organization’s reputation.  Not only does it expose past non-compliance to patients, but also includes years of close monitoring to ensure a practice or business doesn’t stray off the compliance path. And who wants to be grounded for years?  How Abyde Can Help We’re all a patient somewhere! Wouldn’t you want your doctor to take every precaution to keep your information safe?  Abyde is a software solution that makes HIPAA easy for your practice or business. We take the complexities of compliance and turn them into a cloud-based solution, with numerous resources all-in-one. The Security Risk Analysis, training, dynamically generated policies and procedures, and much more are all within the software, ensuring you’re on track for compliance.  Compliance is so much more than avoiding fines, it’s making sure that every patient you interact with feels safe and secure. To learn more about compliance for your organization, schedule a consultation here for Covered Entities and here for Business Associates. 

GDPR vs HIPAA
HIPAA, Legislation

What’s the GDPR?: Your Guide to EU Data Privacy

April 4, 2024 Comments Off on What’s the GDPR?: Your Guide to EU Data Privacy

April 4, 2024 Today, we’re talking about our friends across the pond – Europe.  HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, guides the security of health information only in the United States.  Don’t worry, the fight for data privacy goes global, with many countries having similar legislation. Now, even in the land of euros and rich history, the safety of personal information is important.  Grab your passport! Today, we’re taking a quick trip over the Atlantic to explore how privacy laws are in Europe.  What’s the GDPR?  The GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation, is the European Union’s equivalent to HIPAA.  The GDPR was established in 2018, preceding similar legislation, and it defines the rights of EU citizens regarding how organizations collect and handle their personal information. For those unfamiliar with the EU, this currently includes 27 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Whew! That’s a lot of countries!  Interestingly enough, countries that are not technically a part of the EU, but are a part of the European Economic Area, like Norway and Iceland, are also bound to the GDPR.   Now, before you ask, we haven’t forgotten our British buddies. After Brexit, the United Kingdom split from the EU and established its system, similar to the GDPR, called the Data Protection Act. Alongside this legislation, they have the simply named: UK GDPR.  Guess what that is? Ding ding ding! Yep, you guessed it! It’s the GDPR with slight updates for the UK.  Hopefully, I haven’t lost you yet!  GDPR vs HIPAA While the GDPR and HIPAA are really similar, they have major distinct differences.  The GDPR not only covers healthcare but all situations that include personal information. Buying something online from an EU-based company? The retailer has to be GDPR-compliant. Even a US bank can’t outrun the GDPR! If you’re a US-based bank with a new location in Europe, that location has to be GDPR-compliant.  The GDPR also allows for the right for erasure. If a patient wants their records to be deleted, a practice has one month to respond to the request.  GDPR rules around consent are also more distinct than HIPAA, requiring explicit and informed consent. GDPR consent must be easy to give and withdraw.  Rather than one organization, like the OCR, enforcing legislation, the GDPR is enforced by individual data protection authorities (DPAs) from the EU and EU-adjacent countries. GDPR fines can be vast – with some being up to 20 million Euros, or up to 4% of their total global annual revenue, whichever is higher!  In a major GDPR case, health data software company Dedalus Biologie was fined €1.5 million in France for a data breach affecting nearly half a million people! What can we learn from this?  Now, welcome back to the US! Hopefully, you were able to sleep on the way back.  From our quick exploration, we can see how important data privacy is on a global scale. While Europe’s legislation might be more encompassing than HIPAA, the same message is clear: data privacy is a fundamental right.  To see how your compliance currently stands in the US, email us at info@abyde.com and schedule a consultation here! 

New Jersey Nursing Facility HIPAA Fine
Fines, HIPAA

HHS Cracks Down on New Jersey Nursing Facility for HIPAA Violation

April 1, 2024 Comments Off on HHS Cracks Down on New Jersey Nursing Facility for HIPAA Violation

April 1, 2024 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000 on Hackensack Meridian Health West Caldwell Care Center, a skilled nursing facility in New Jersey. The facility violated the HIPAA Right of Access law. The penalty stems from the facility’s failure to provide a patient’s medical records to their authorized representative in a timely manner, or within 30 days.  According to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which investigated the case, Hackensack Meridian Health withheld the records even after receiving documentation demonstrating the individual’s legal right to access them. The requested records were ultimately sent to the authorized representative only after intervention by the OCR. HIPAA guarantees patients the right to access and obtain copies of their medical records. The OCR enforces this regulation and takes action against healthcare facilities that fail to comply. “A patient’s timely access to health records is paramount for medical care,” said OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer in a press release. “The OCR will continue to vigorously enforce this essential right to ensure compliance by health care facilities across the country.” This incident highlights the importance of HIPAA and the rights it grants patients regarding their medical information. It also serves as a reminder for healthcare providers to ensure they have clear procedures in place for handling requests for medical records. This is also the second Right of Access violation ruled on in the last week. Read more about other recent fines here.

Phoenix Healthcare HIPAA Fine
Fines, HIPAA

Phoenix Healthcare Fine: Don’t be a Fool in Compliance

April 1, 2024 Comments Off on Phoenix Healthcare Fine: Don’t be a Fool in Compliance

April 1, 2024 Happy April Fools Day! We hope you’re enjoying the holiday with some lighthearted fun and pranks!  Now, HIPAA regulations are no laughing matter. HIPAA regulations are in place to protect patients’ information, making sure we all have the rights we deserve to keep our information safe.  Today, we’re talking about the latest HIPAA fine, given to a multi-location nursing care organization in Oklahoma, Phoenix Healthcare.  Phoenix Healthcare was fined 35 grand for violating the HIPAA Right of Access Rule, being the butt of the joke of this major fine.  Get buckled up, pranksters! We’re all in for some April Fools’ fun but don’t even think about messing with HIPAA. Patient privacy is no joke!  So, What Happened?  Well, what happened was unfortunately not a prank.  Phoenix Healthcare withheld someone’s health information for almost a year after an initial request was made.  The OCR was made aware of this not-so-funny situation by a caretaker trying to get the health information of her mother, a patient at the nursing home.  Like a joke that went on too long, Phoenix Healthcare eventually did send the information to the daughter. However, the HIPAA Right of Access Rule requires information to be shared within thirty days of a request. Some states, it’s even sooner, like California!  The daughter reported the HIPAA violation to the OCR, and at first, Phoenix Healthcare was ordered to pay a fine of 75,000! With an appeal, and an agreement that Phoenix Healthcare updates its HIPAA policies and procedures, and provides training, the fine was lowered to 35,000.  Whew! While Phoenix Healthcare is still on thin ice, they saved themselves a lot of money.  What can I learn from this?  Well, great question! First, HIPAA compliance is no joke. But don’t worry, no April Fool’s pranks here!  To stay ahead of the curve,  we can make sure your practice is up-to-date on all the HIPAA rules. That way, you can focus on the fun and leave the compliance worries to us. With Abyde, we make sure you Never Stress Over Compliance Again! The Abyde software offers a variety of features to simplify the compliance process. Yes, the words ‘simple’ and ‘compliance’ can be in the same sentence.  While this is a chore for Phoenix Healthcare, the Abyde software even includes dynamically generated policies and procedures, having HIPAA-compliant policies in seconds. The training is also covered, with our enjoyable training that somehow turns learning about HIPAA fun!  We promise you, this isn’t an April Fools trick, we actually make compliance easy. To learn more about how Abyde can help your practice, schedule a consultation, here. 

HIPAA Training Portal
Abyde News

Abyde Feature Week: Training Portal

March 22, 2024 Comments Off on Abyde Feature Week: Training Portal

March 22, 2024 Is it over already? But, we’ve been having so much!  If you’re not aware, this past week, we’ve been going over all the amazing features the Abyde software has to offer, simplifying compliance for your business. Every second counts when it comes to running your business, and complex HIPAA regulations are the last thing you need to stress about.  That’s where Abyde comes in.  Over the past week, we’ve gone through a variety of our cutting-edge features. For example, the once daunting Security Risk Analysis (SRA)? Yeah, we turned it into a questionnaire that can be completed in minutes. We have a Scorecard that keeps track of your HIPAA triumphs and shortcomings, letting you know the best compliance practices. In the spirit of efficiency, we also dynamically generate your custom policies and procedures. Oh yeah, we also streamline Business Associate Agreements with our BA | CE Portal, making the only thing you have to do is digitally sign.  Now, the last feature of this wonderful week will be our entertaining training.  Yes, pick your jaw off the floor, Abyde actually makes HIPAA compliance training fun.  Level Up!  Routine training is required to keep you and your staff on point when it comes to compliance protocols.  Compliance training might not be synonymous with fun to most, so that’s where Abyde once again has changed the compliance game.  Gone are the days when you’d need to shut down your business, hire a third-party consultant, and spend the whole day talking about HIPAA. With Abyde, we create short, simple, and entertaining training, giving over everything you need to know to be compliant. We’re always getting better here at Abyde, and some of my favorite new trainings are interactive, making sure your staff is engaged and learning.  Best part? This training can be completed at your own pace, so no need to shut down the business for the day!  Need to follow up with employees who haven’t completed training? You can do that with a click of a button, reminding staff with a friendly email from us.  In the words of the Staples button – That was easy!  Feature Finale We had a fantastic week going through all the amazing features that make Abyde, well, Abyde! Now, let’s remember that continuous compliance lasts a lot longer than this week, and is a staple to the success of your business.  Think about the countless hours you save with Abyde’s innovative solutions.  Abyde can and will make compliance for your business simple and easy. It’s what we do best.  We’re here to equip businesses with the tools they need to keep Protected Health Information (PHI) safe and secure.  BAs are in a unique situation – running both a business and then being entrusted with the responsibility of protecting sensitive patient information.  We’re here to make compliance easy so you can focus on running your business.  To learn more about Abyde’s revolutionary software solution, email us at info@abyde.com and schedule a demo here to see it in action. 

Business Associate Agreements Portal
Best Practices, Business Associates, HIPAA

Abyde Feature Week: BA | CE Portal

March 21, 2024 Comments Off on Abyde Feature Week: BA | CE Portal

March 21, 2024 Let’s go! Day number four of Feature Week. We hope you’ve stayed tuned as we go over all the wonderful features that make Abyde the leading compliance software for Business Associates (BAs). We know that running your business can be tough, so we simplify compliance, so you can focus on being successful in your business.  So far, this week we’ve gone over our intuitive Security Risk Analysis (SRA), our unique Scorecard, telling you what you need to do to be compliant based on your answers, and yesterday, our dynamically generated custom Policies and Procedures, saving your business countless hours in drafting documentation.  How does this software get even better? Well, it does!  Today, we’ll go over our state-of-the-art BA and CE (Covered Entity) Portal, where you can manage your Business Associate Agreements (BAAs).  As we say here at Abyde, who does it better than us? NOBODY!  BAA-lieve It or Not: The Importance of Business Associate Agreements A Business Associate Agreement, or a BAA, is an agreement between a BA and CE, or a Sub-BA, that outlines the roles and responsibilities of both parties when it comes to securing Protected Health Information (PHI).  In simpler terms: a contract that spells out what each party needs to do when it comes to HIPAA compliance.  One of the top HIPAA violations BAs make is not having a Business Associate Agreement in place.  This agreement is required by the government, making sure both parties are aware of the responsibilities that come along with handling sensitive patient information.  BAs must have agreements in place with all CEs and Sub-BAs they work with.  Managing these agreements could be complicated without Abyde, being unaware of what needs to go into an agreement, getting it over to be signed and knowing when these agreements expire.  But with Abyde, you don’t need to worry about this, simplifying the compliance process even more. Like how we dynamically generate custom Policies and Procedures, we create BAAs for you.  All we need you to do is digitally sign. The BAA will be sent over by email through the software and will be stored in our nifty BA | CE Portal.  Have an agreement expiring soon? We’ll notify you, giving you plenty of time to update your documentation so you can stay compliant.  All BAAs are easily downloadable from the software and can be reviewed at all times. Have a partner who hasn’t signed yet? We’ll send reminders for them, too.  With our revolutionary features, we think it’s clear: we want to make compliance the easiest part of running your business.  To learn more about how you can manage your Business Associate Agreements with the Abyde software, email info@abyde.com and see it in action here.

Custom HIPAA Policies and Procedures
Abyde News

Feature Week: Custom Policies and Procedures

March 20, 2024 Comments Off on Feature Week: Custom Policies and Procedures

March 20, 2024 Wait. Hold up. Are we already halfway through our Feature Week? For those unfamiliar, we’re taking this week to celebrate what makes Abyde unique. We are highlighting the features that make Abyde well, Abyde! Abyde is the leading compliance software for healthcare practices and Business Associates.  Over the last few days, we’ve shared how Abyde’s Security Risk Analysis (SRA) and Scorecard simplify compliance. Our SRA, a required assessment by the government, takes just minutes to complete.  Then, SRA generates a Scorecard that analyzes your assessment and provides clear recommendations, ensuring a thorough evaluation. Can you believe there are more amazing features of the Abyde software?  Today, we’re highlighting the dynamically generated policies and procedures.  Doable Documentation Now, you might be wondering, what’s the big deal about this documentation? Well, if you haven’t noticed, documentation is a big deal in compliance, showing the government that you are on top of keeping Protected Health Information (PHI) safe.  HIPAA requires that your business has to have custom, personalized policies and procedures documented.  Cookie-cutter templates are not going to cut it when it comes to compliant documentation. Now, before you start to wonder how you are ever going to write all these policies, take a deep breath. We’re here to help. The Abyde software will dynamically generate policies and procedures for you. All we need from you is some simple information, then voila! The software will generate an extensive policy or procedure for you.  Have any changes to your business? No worries, mark the change in your Abyde software, and we’ll instantly create a document with the newest information.  Abyde stores all your policies, new and old, in the software, keeping things organized for your business. Our dynamically generated policy and procedures save your practice countless hours of writing documentation, letting you focus on what matters most, running your business.  To learn more about how Abyde can help your business, email info@abyde.com and see the policy and procedure generation in action by scheduling a demo here for Business Associates. 

HIPAA Compliance Scorecard
Cybersecurity, HIPAA

Abyde Feature Week: Scorecard

March 19, 2024 Comments Off on Abyde Feature Week: Scorecard

March 19, 2024 Welcome to Feature Week! Whether you stayed tuned from last week, or are a first-time reader, we are celebrating the features that Abyde offers to make it easy for your practice to stay compliant. Yesterday, we highlighted Abyde’s state-of-the-art Security Risk Analysis (SRA), turning a complicated evaluation of your business’s compliance practices into a simple questionnaire that can be completed in minutes.  Once your SRA is done, the Scorecard comes into play.  Get comfortable and stay tuned on how this feature can make HIPAA a breeze for your business.  Keeping Score Whew!, That SRA wasn’t so bad, right? So, what’s next? This isn’t a scorecard like in golf but is a hole-in-one when it comes to monitoring your compliance practices. The Scorecard is a review of your answers to the SRA and gives your business a thorough explanation of how your current practices hold up against regulations, and what your organization can do to improve.  The SRA is like a coach’s playbook, outlining the game plan for HIPAA compliance. The Scorecard is this plan in action, like reviewing your game tape, seeing what you need to improve and what vulnerabilities you have as a business.  This scorecard is easy to review and gives your business the risk levels of your current practices.  Each question is unique, and some practices are more critical than others. For instance, only changing your password every six months is not ideal, but not as risky as not encrypting your files.  Unfortunately, some practices will never be ‘low risk’, even if they are not wrong just because there’s always the chance of human and technological errors.  For instance, numerous employees working remotely while handling Protected Health Information (PHI) is always going to be riskier than all PHI staying in one location.  Impacted by a breach? You can easily show proof of a Security Risk Analysis by downloading the Scorecard in the software, showing the government that you take HIPAA seriously.  You can also see every version of your Scorecard in the software, seeing how your path to compliance has gotten easier with the help of Abyde. Ready to keep your HIPAA compliance score? Reach out to info@abyde.com and schedule a demo here for your business.

HIPAA Security Risk Analysis Software
Cybersecurity, HIPAA

Abyde Feature Week: Security Risk Analysis

March 18, 2024 Comments Off on Abyde Feature Week: Security Risk Analysis

March 18, 2024 For some, this might be Spring Break, but we have something even more exciting planned: Feature Week! Throughout this week, we are going to share the amazing things we have to offer Business Associates (BAs) for HIPAA compliance. I know that Spring Break and software features might seem like worlds apart, but somehow at Abyde, we make compliance and simplicity go hand in hand.  So, get comfortable, fix your beach chair, grab a drink, and see how Abyde can make your compliance journey easy with our Security Risk Analysis (SRA).  What is a Security Risk Analysis (SRA)?  A Security Risk Analysis (SRA) is a required assessment of risks and vulnerabilities of how Protected Health Information (PHI) is handled. The quick 411– PHI is identifiable information about a patient, like a social security number, medical records and more.  The Security Risk Analysis, established in the Security Rule, is an overall evaluation of how your business properly protects PHI, ranging from how often you change the passwords on your systems, to security alarms on the door of the business.  This assessment is required, and organizations’ lack of one is a common HIPAA violation.  Last year, a BA was fined $100,000  by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) after they were impacted by a ransomware attack. One of the first things the OCR looks for is an SRA. As you might’ve guessed, there was no SRA in place, contributing to the hefty fine.  How Abyde can help There’s A LOT of information to go through, and it might be overwhelming.  That’s where our simplified Security Risk Analysis comes in.  With Abyde, you can now analyze your processes without needing to hire a consultant or trying to audit yourself by referring to tons of paperwork.  Before Abyde, an SRA could take weeks. With Abyde, it takes minutes. Our simple questions get straight to the point, and if you don’t know the answer to something? Don’t worry! You can mark the question and it will come back up later in our Ongoing Questions section on the dashboard, or call our team of compliance experts for help.  Abyde is here to make compliance simple. It’s what we do best.  Stay tuned for the next day in our feature week: our Scorecard.  To learn more about the features of the Abyde software, email us at info@abyde.com and see the software in action by scheduling a demo here for Business Associates and here for Covered Entities. 

Change Healthcare Breach Update
Audits, Cybersecurity, HIPAA

Change Healthcare Breach: What We Know Now

March 14, 2024 Comments Off on Change Healthcare Breach: What We Know Now

March 14, 2024 BREAKING NEWS! Your friends at Abyde are right back at you with an update on the Change Healthcare breach. Check out our first blog post on the breach here!  Now, to quickly bring you up to speed, Change Healthcare, a division of United Healthcare, was impacted by a ransomware attack. This ransomware attack is like nothing we’ve ever seen, and being called the most significant attack on our healthcare system of all time.  This ransomware attack was disastrous, taking Change Healthcare systems offline, and making it impossible for healthcare providers to check for insurance eligibility, see new patients, properly process prescriptions correctly, and much more.  Now, it’s been several weeks since the initial attack, and we have the latest scoop for you.  What’s going on now?  Well, now here comes the fallout. While some of the systems have been able to get back online, like pharmacy functions, Change Healthcare is still not 100%. This has been detrimental to healthcare providers, and is costing them $100 million a day! Now, I know that’s gotta hurt.  Now, the lawsuits are starting to roll in. Now, multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against Change Healthcare/United Healthcare due to its inadequate security systems and how it’s been handled.  Unfortunately, in this attack, it’s highly likely Protected Health Information (PHI) is in the hands of criminals. In this ransomware attack, over six TB of stolen data was encrypted by the deceptive hackers. So, these lawsuits are just getting started.  The government is also involved in this breach, investigating the causes and effects of the ransomware attack. The FBI has run into this group of hackers before and has taken some of their servers offline, causing many to think this attack was of vengeance.  The Department of Health and Human Services also came together to discuss and address the impact of the cyber attack for more to come. As of yesterday, March 13, the Office of Civil Rights also released a statement of beginning their investigation of the attack.  It’s safe to say this is far from over, and it’s been a tough month for United Healthcare.  What should I do?  To keep up with the news, we recommend you follow our news page, where we release the newest updates in compliance news and the best tips for your practice or business.  To keep up with the Change Healthcare system updates, you can follow this page here.  To keep your practice or business safe, and avoid this hot water that United Healthcare found itself in, it is essential for you to proactively protect your organization. This includes working with an IT company, employing firewalls, encryption, and of course, having compliance software like Abyde.  Abyde is your one-stop shop when it comes to compliance management, allowing you to evaluate your risks and address them before it’s too late. Need documentation in order? Yeah, all in the software. Oh and – let me stop you right there, yes, we also dynamically generate our personalized policies and procedures, so don’t worry about writing them.  And if you experience a breach? We’re here for you. We have an awesome team of compliance experts here to help you navigate any situation, so you’re not alone.  Want to learn more about compliance? Reach out to us at info@abyde.com and schedule a compliance consultation here for Covered Entities, and here for Business Associates! 

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