Technology: Do You Know Where Your Data Is?
Five easy steps to total tech security
By Robert Anthony Your practice has implemented an EMR, and the software vendor has made it compatible with your practice management system. Maybe you even submit claims and receive lab results and EOBs electronically. And why shouldn’t you? It’s fast, easy, and automated.
It can also be dangerous.
In the rush to move practices into the 21st century, security is sometimes the first casualty. Every practice wants the electronic tools that will make it the most efficient, but — let’s be honest — most practice administrators and physicians don’t know much more about computers than how to plug them in.
“As more and more of us convert to the electronic environment, we’re really entering some unknown territory,” says Susan Miller, administrator for Family Practice Associates of Lexington, Ky. Miller, whose practice has been using electronic management tools since 1999, knows just how daunting a task Internet and computer security can be, but she also knows how important it is.
Under HIPAA regulations, every practice must take steps to protect the confidentiality of electronic patient information. Failure to take those steps not only exposes your patients to risk and potential fraud, but it can also result in some pretty steep penalties: Civil penalties for noncompliance can cost you $100 per violation (that’s per patient record!), or up to $25,000 per year; criminal penalties could cost you as much as $250,000 and ten years in prison! Continued...
