One of the most important pieces of guidance that HHS has put out in regards to HIPAA compliance is The Seven Fundamental Elements of an Effective Compliance Program.
Since this guidance was first released, OCR enforcement for HIPAA violations has increased significantly. Over the course of a year, there was a four-fold increase in total fines levied (from $6.2 million to $23.5 million).
The seven elements of HIPAA compliance represent the minimum necessary requirements that HIPAA covered entities such as ODs, MDs, and all healthcare providers must have in place to address HIPAA privacy and security standards.
You might be wondering how to build a compliance program or how to develop a compliance framework. The 7 Elements of an Effective Compliance Program Are as Follows:
- Implementing written policies, procedures, and standards of conduct.
- Designating a compliance officer and compliance committee.
- Conducting effective training and education.
- Developing effective lines of communication.
- Conducting internal monitoring and auditing.
- Enforcing standards through well-publicized disciplinary guidelines.
- Responding promptly to detected offenses and undertaking corrective action.
Each of the Seven Elements requires robust, organization-wide enforcement and documentation. Many HIPAA standards require annual review, as well.
HIPAA compliance programs are most successful when they’re integrated into the management of your practice–creating an effective corporate compliance program within your practice is your best bet to avoid HIPAA breaches and fines!
About Compliancy Group
Compliancy Group gives healthcare professionals the tools they need to implement an effective compliance program. Whether you’re a seasoned Compliance Officer or an Office Manager, our healthcare compliance software has something for you.
Our templated policies and procedures can be customized for your organization, or used out of the box. Guided risk assessment questionnaires make it easy to identify your areas of risk, and automatically produce corrective action plans based of their results.
You also get a complete toolset for efficiently educating your entire workforce – from new-hire employee training to refresher training. All you have to do is add employees to the platform, and they’re automatically assigned all relevant training modules. Proof of completed employee training is easily accessible from your compliance dashboard.
Worried about vendor contract management? We have you covered! Manage and monitor important vendor documents with ease using our software. Send documents and store them on your compliance dashboard for swift retrievable proof of your vendor due diligence.
Our software also supports anonymous incident reporting. You’ll get a complete set of ticketing, tracking, and analysis tools to expedite incident response and management. Easily identify organizational risks from incident reports to improve your compliance efforts and prevent future incidents.
With The Guard, healthcare professionals can focus on running their practice while keeping their patients’ data protected and secure.
Find out more about how Compliancy Group and the HIPAA Seal of Compliance can help simplify your HIPAA compliance today!
