Part III: Longterm Care Facility Residents' Privacy and Access to Medical Records

March 23, 2020

Access the on-demand version of this webinar here or access the full series here.


PART III

From patient privacy complaints to cybersecurity attacks and breaches, the HIPAA-related compliance challenges facing covered entities can seem overwhelming.  The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the agency responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Rules, recently announced an enforcement initiative targeting covered entities that fail to provide patients with access to their records.  In 2019, OCR also updated the penalties for breaches and publicized several multi-million dollar settlements against a variety of covered entities ranging from hospital systems to small dental practices.  In this webinar, we will provide an overview of OCR’s recent enforcement activities, including insight on how to interpret the recent settlement agreements and incorporate “lessons learned” into your organization’s compliance work plan.  We will also review the breach investigation and reporting requirements applicable to longterm care facilities and suggest strategies to ensure your organization responds appropriately to HIPAA-related incidents.  Finally, we will provide suggestions on performing a HIPAA risk analysis to help your organization focus on its top privacy and security risk areas. 

Series Description

The regulatory landscape for providers of post-acute care has changed dramatically in recent months. New requirements of participation for longterm care facilities, promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2016, have been implemented in three phases, with the last and arguably most significant set of changes implemented in November 2019. On October 1, 2019, and January 1, 2020, respectively, CMS implemented new “patient-driven” Medicare payment methodologies for skilled nursing facility services (SNF) and for home health services.

This series of four sixty-minute webinars will provide information and guidance to post-acute care providers on emerging topics relating to the revised requirements of participation and Medicare payment methodologies. Three of the webinars will focus on provider policies that will be under increased scrutiny as a result of the revised requirements of participation: compliance and ethics programs, emergency preparedness plans, and policies and procedures related to patient/resident privacy and information. One webinar will provide an overview of the Patient-Driven Payment Methodology (PDPM) for SNF services and the Patient-Driven Groupings Methodology (PDGM) for home health services, as well as identifying key compliance risks associated with the implementation of these methodologies. Each webinar will provide practical advice on how longterm care facilities and other post-acute care providers can most effectively develop and implement policies to respond to the new or revised requirements, and to strengthen the patient experience and patient care.

Target Audience

  • Privacy and Security Officers
  • Compliance Officers
  • Program Directors
  • Operations Staff

Learning Objectives

After this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Understand OCR’s process for auditing and investigating covered entities
  • Identify recent enforcement trends and develop strategies to mitigate your organization’s risk
  • Review the breach investigation and reporting requirements for longterm care facilities
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 Certificate of Attendance
Course opens: 
12/10/2019
Course expires: 
06/23/2020
Event starts: 
03/23/2020 - 1:00pm EDT
Event ends: 
03/23/2020 - 2:00pm EDT

DIANNE PLEDGIE

As Partner and Compliance Counsel with the firm’s health law practice group, Dianne advises health centers on implementing effective compliance programs and on addressing top compliance risk areas. Dianne counsels health centers and other organizations on developing compliance programs that include the OIG’s seven elements, respond to identified compliance risk areas, and reflect the organization’s culture.  Dianne also advises health centers and other organizations on patient privacy and confidentiality, including the HIPAA Privacy Rule and 42 CFR Part 2.  She has experience responding to privacy and security incidents, including determining whether there has been a breach, notifying patients and the government, and creating corrective action plans. [Full Bio]

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Available Credit

  • 1.00 Certificate of Attendance
Please login or register to take this course.

This webinar is complimentary: there is no registration fee, but you will need to create an account in our system. To register, click the gray Enroll button above. To register for the full webinar series, click here.

WEBINAR ACCESS

The webinars in this course are only available individually or as an entire webinar series. Registering for this webinar grants you complimentary access to both the live and on-demand versions. You will have access to the recordings for 180 days after the conclusion of Part IV.

VIEWING THE RECORDING

The on-demand version of each webinar will be available in your account within two (2) business days of each live session. Once posted to your account, you can view each webinar anytime on-demand during the access period. For additional information on viewing and accessing webinars, view our full terms and conditions here.

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