Texting and Mobile Devices in Healthcare - HIPAA and CMS Requirements for Security of PHI

Why Should You Attend:

In order to integrate the use of mobile devices and texting into practitioner and patient communications, it is essential to perform the proper steps in an information privacy and security compliance process to evaluate and address the risks of using the technology. This session will describe the information security compliance process, how it works, and how it can help you decide how to integrate mobile devices and texting into your organization in a compliant way. The process, including the use of information security risk analysis, will be explained, and the policies needed to support the process will be described. There have long been HIPAA requirements for covered entities to secure PHI and do their best to meet the requests of their patients for particular modes of communication, and using mobile devices is no exception.

This session will focus on the use of mobile devices such as smart phones in the healthcare setting. The use of mobile devices and texting services is pervasive in society today and healthcare practitioners need to be prepared to make sound decisions when considering how to use mobile devices for various purposes, such as staff personal business use (e.g., “I’m running late in traffic due to the weather”), normal business use not involving any Protected Health Information (e.g., “The copier in the back hall needs new toner ordered for it”), business or professional use involving PHI (e.g., “Patient Joe Jones is coming in for his heart event follow-up at 10 AM, and his latest blood numbers are as follows…”), and communications with patients for a wide variety of reasons. All of these uses must be considered and the appropriate procedures defined for each.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Find out the ways that patients want to use texting to communicate with providers, and the ways providers want to use texting to enable better patient care.
• Learn what are the risks of using texting, what can go wrong, and what can result when it does.
• Learn how to use an information security management process to evaluate risks and make decisions about how best to protect PHI and meet patient needs and desires.
• Find out about limitations on the use of messages and calls to cell phones under The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
• Discover how The Joint Commission decided to allow and then withdraw allowing the use of texting for physician orders.
• Find out what policies and procedures you should have in place for dealing with texting, as well as any new technology.
• Learn about the training and education that must take place to ensure your staff uses texting properly and does not risk exposure of PHI.
• Find out the steps that must be followed in the event of a breach of PHI.
• Learn about how the HIPAA audit and enforcement activities are now being increased and what you need to do to survive a HIPAA audit.

Who Will Benefit:

This webinar will provide valuable assistance to all personnel in Medical offices, practice groups, hospitals, academic medical centers, insurers, business associates (shredding, data storage, systems vendors, billing services, etc.). The titles are

• Compliance Director
• CEO
• CFO
• Privacy Officer
• Security Officer
• Information Systems Manager
• HIPAA Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Health Information Manager
• Healthcare Counsel/Lawyer
• Office Manager
• Contracts Manager

Jim Sheldon-Dean
Principal and Director of Compliance Services, Lewis Creek Systems, LLC

Jim Sheldon-Dean is the founder and director of compliance services at Lewis Creek Systems, LLC, a Vermont-based consulting firm founded in 1982, providing information privacy and security regulatory compliance services to a variety of health care providers, businesses, universities, small and large hospitals, urban and rural mental health and social service agencies, health insurance plans, and health care business associates. He serves on the HIMSS Information Systems Security Workgroup, has co-chaired the Electronic Data Interchange Privacy and Security Workgroup, currently serves on the WEDI Breach Notification sub-workgroup, and is a recipient of the 2011 WEDI Award of Merit. He is a frequent speaker regarding HIPAA and information privacy and security compliance issues at seminars and conferences, including speaking engagements at AHIMA national and regional conventions and WEDI national conferences, and before regional HFMA chapter meetings and state hospital associations.

Mr. Sheldon-Dean has nearly 30 years of experience in policy analysis and implementation, business process analysis, information systems and software development. His experience includes leading the development of health care related websites; award-winning, best-selling commercial utility software; and mission-critical, fault-tolerant communications satellite control systems. In addition, he has eight years of experience doing hands-on medical work as a Vermont certified volunteer emergency medical technician. Mr. Sheldon-Dean received his B.S. degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Vermont and his master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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