REGULATIONS
Takeaway for ASCs: As ASCs con- tract with several outside entities for various business and technology pro- cesses, they must have a stringent con- tractor vetting policy and sound busi- ness associate agreements. When an ASC gives an external individual or organization access to its patient infor- mation, it must consider that external agent to be a potential vulnerability as part of a HIPAA risk analysis.
Allergy Associates What Happened: Allergy Associates, a small (three doctor) practice in Con- necticut, specializes in treating patients with allergies. A former patient con- tacted a local television about a dispute with an Allergy Associates’ doctor, and the reporter then contacted the doctor for comment. In the discussion with the reporter, the doctor impermissibly dis-
closed the patient’s PHI. Allergy Asso- ciates agreed to pay a $125,000 settle- ment and undertake a corrective action plan that included two years of monitor- ing for HIPAA compliance.
Takeaway for ASCs: As with any medical entity, there is always the chance that a news organization might come to an ASC enquiring about a specific patient or interaction. ASCs should always place the highest pri- ority on patient privacy rights, regard- less of how disclosing information might affect the news story. In the case of Allergy Associates, the com- pany’s privacy officer had specifically instructed the doctor to not respond to the media or say, “no comment.” Fur- thermore, no disciplinary or correc- tive action was taken after the doctor had impermissibly disclosed informa- tion to local news. ASCs should take
care to write and enact internal policies regarding contact with the media and provide regular training to all clinical staff about the impropriety of any PHI disclosure regardless of the news story.
ASCA provides many resources
to help ASCs remain compliant with HIPAA. The page dedicated to HIPAA Resource can be found under the Fed- eral Regulations section of ASCA’s main site. It provides background on the act itself, as well as the four key pro- visions: privacy, security, breach notifi- cation and enforcement. ASCA’s facil- ity and corporate members also have free access to the HIPAA Workbook for ASCs, a comprehensive resource for designing, updating and evaluating HIPAA compliance programs. For more information or for ques- tions and concerns, write Alex Taira at
ataira@ascassociation.org.
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ASC FOCUS APRIL 2019 |
ascfocus.org
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