Compliance is a complicated topic that many practices tend to push down the priority list. While understandably tedious to deal with, compliance is nevertheless an essential part of your practice that could cause a ton of risk if neglected.
The good news is that you can adopt some simple strategies to improve your practice's compliance status!
For example, taking the mandatory risk assessment by the Health and Human Services is a great way to start. It will help you understand where you're missing the mark regarding compliance and provide you with a roadmap of where you're not cutting it.
Knowing how HIPAA compliance works is also essential when it comes to responding to a review online. The problem arises when practice owners are not aware of what constitutes a HIPAA violation in this context.
Of course, it isn't a HIPAA violation to respond to a review, but there are a few caveats you should know about.
First of all, your word choices matter. In your response, you should never acknowledge that they're a patient nor mention any private or protected information about their treatment.
Instead, it's better to include a generic statement in your response asking them to come to the office to address the issue.
Even if a patient leaves a positive review or mentions they're OK with discussing their private information online, just let them know you can't discuss that due to HIPAA regulations.
Do you want to learn more tips on how to improve your office's compliance status?
Tune in to this week’s episode of ‘The Raving Patients Podcast’!
Danielle McKinley, also known as 'The HIPAA Chick,' joins me to share her step-by-step guide on HIPAA and OSHA compliance to protect your patients and your practice.
You'll also learn some common misconceptions about compliance, the importance of business associate agreements, and what practice owners need to know about cyber insurance.
This podcast is sponsored by Cloud Dentistry, the largest dental talent marketplace. Find out more at: http://www.clouddentistry.com/Len
