Corrective actions for HIPAA compliance in 2014: practices focus on EHR system and record retention issues

Physician practices worked feverishly in 2013 to thoroughly comprehend the HIPAA Omnibus, then to educate all staff that work with private health information, and finally to implement the procedures required for compliance with the new final rule. But practices must avoid complacency in the wake of last year's successful compliance efforts. They must continue to manage and monitor the rule's key issues, paying particular attention to their electronic health records system, which can be a weak link in the compliance chain. Other areas of focus for physician practices in 2014 are the appropriate destruction of obsolete medical records and the documentation of all compliance efforts.