Practice Management Alert

Make sure you begin HIPAAcompliance for your billing office with the right set of questions. Karen Gulsrud at Medical Solutions Group offers these examples to get your brain spinning: 1.Do you have a client? (This question applies to billing companies only.)

2.Are you sending claims electronically? 3.If so, is your software compliant, and if not, did you file an extension? 4.If you have employees, do you have a privacy officer in your organization? (See article on page 13 for more on privacy officers.) Below is a list of policies that Gulsrud's office has drafted. Make sure you're familiar with similar policies in your own department. Personal Discipline for Breach of Privacy or Confidentiality Policy Physical Security Policy Use of Electronic Mail, Internet and Facsimile Machines Policy Virus Protection Policy Access to Patient Information Systems Policy Criticality Analysis, Backup and Contingency Planning Policy Disaster Recovery Information Security Officer Job Description Remote Access to System by Vendor(s) Policy System Maintenance and Control Logs Policy $ $ $