Amazon has announced that its smartspeaker voice assistant Alexa is now HIPAA-compliant and can serve as your very own healthcare valet.
‘Alexa, what’s my blood sugar?’ Amazon unveils HIPAA-compliant voice services
Topics: HIPAA
Audits are only one way of coming under the HIPAA microscope
Now that the 2015 HIPAA Audits have begun, organizations are reevaluating their HIPAA compliance posture. This is a good thing being that an organization will have very little time to respond to pre-audit and audit inquiries from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Topics: HIPAA
Is it time to conduct a HIPAA compliance risk analysis?
In light of the recent $750,000 settlement agreement reached by The University of Washington Medicine (UWM), following the conclusion of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation into a claim of a potential data breach compromising the medical details of thousands of patients, it might be a good time for medical practices and healthcare organizations of all sizes to review their electronic security protocols, to ensure that they are not running afoul of HIPAA and patient confidentiality laws (even by accident – it still counts as a breach even if an organization is not aware of it!)
Topics: HIPAA, compliance
Key items to include in your patient financial policy
A patient financial policy is a crucial step in the patient revenue cycle. It is an opportunity for a practice to communicate their financial expectations to the patient as well as document the patient's understanding.
Topics: communication, HIPAA, patient collection, customer service, practice management, patient satisfaction
How to reduce communication risks within your practice
Safety, confidentiality, technology. For physicians, managing risk goes beyond making sound clinical decisions. With all of these areas to monitor, communication plays a big role in risk management.
Topics: communication, physician, practices, HIPAA, patient satisfaction