Top Tips to Avoid Healthcare Compliance Risks in 2011

In 2010, the Obama Administration specially focused on regulatory measures in the healthcare sector, and 2011 is perhaps slated to be the breakthrough year for healthcare compliance. So the healthcare industry should prepare itself to face numerous challenges lurking in the compliance scene. Doctors, dentists, chiropractors, psychologists, and other medical practitioners have to abide by the regulations set forth in the HIPAA and HITECH Acts. With new reforms in place healthcare entities need to be proactive in abiding by compliance standards and changing regulations. Here are some tips that can help healthcare organizations avoid compliance risks:

·         Establish an appropriate policy and procedure framework. An unclear set of policies or compliance framework could go against the organization. Hence it is essential that medical practitioners and healthcare organizations dedicate efforts towards being HIPAA and HITECH compliant. They should ensure that the right policy framework and guidelines are in place to help the implementation of systems and practices that can keep patient’s health records safe.

·         Select a compliance solution that offers centralized up-to-date services. They should ensure that the compliance solution adopted is future proof: A healthcare compliance management system is most effective if it can work anytime, anywhere. Therefore it is important to opt for a solution delivered on the cloud. This also means that the solution is capable of sending timely alerts and updates regarding new versions of security monitoring/compliance management software and techniques. More importantly, it should provide complete in-built HIPAA & HITECH support which can be easily extended if the need arises. Also, the healthcare compliance solution chosen should be easy to deploy and manage.

·         Select a compliance solution that automates audit processes. Healthcare regulatory compliance is essential even if medical practitioners and organizations are not using technology in their medical practice. Small medical practitioners should proactively deploy a healthcare compliance solution that can automate audit processes and provide tangible evidence of compliance. Therefore, they should opt for a solution that has the ability to build a repository of all HIPAA Compliance related documentation and provide automatic updates on revised policies and procedures.

It is well known that ever since HITECH was enacted as part of the American recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, organizations abiding by the Act were offered incentives for Electronic Medical Recordkeeping (EMR). However from 2015, non-compliance with these standards would attract criminal penalties. So medical practitioners and healthcare entities which abide by HITECH and HIPAA are likely to face fines that can amount to a formidable sum of $1.5 million per year or more along with criminal prosecution. So being healthcare compliant is certainly a safer bet!