Office for Civil Rights [Healthcare Compliance Tips]

Attend training hosted by the OCR to learn more about HIPAA.

The eighth resource I would like to share from the series, The Comeback Story: 9 Compliance Resources to Level Up Your Practice is:

Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

Purpose:

As stated on their website:

Through the federal civil rights laws and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, OCR protects your fundamental nondiscrimination and health information privacy rights by:

• Teaching health and social service workers about civil rights, health information privacy, and patient safety confidentiality laws.
• Educating communities about civil rights and health information privacy rights.
• Investigating civil rights, health information privacy, and patient safety confidentiality complaints to identify discrimination or violation of the laws, and to act to correct problems.

How to Use It:

 The OCR is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and equips your practice with the knowledge and updates you need regarding health information privacy.

The category called “HIPAA for Professionals” is one of my favorite sections because it explains all that you need to know about HIPAA.

The categories for HIPAA are labeled as follows:

• Privacy
• Security
• Breach Notifications
• Compliance & Enforcement
• Special Topics
• Patient Safety
• Covered Entities & Business Associates
• Training & Resources
• FAQ for Professionals
• Other Administrative Simplification Rules

All areas are both easy-to-use and self-explanatory. Each area also provides trainings that will teach the entire practice about HIPAA.

My advice is to make sure all employees are aware of this site, and that the appropriate trainings/resources are accessed per their specific job title.

From a policies and procedures perspective, you will need to utilize these categories to ensure everything matches with your compliance program.

**The opinions and observations from the group/author are not a promise to exempt your practice from fines and penalties.  Research, modify and tailor the advice to fit your specialty.

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