SELECTSHRED | ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD COMPLIANCE – INDIANTOWN SHREDDING PORT ST LUCIE SHREDDING FORT PIERCE SHREDDING PALM CITY SHREDDING STUART SHREDDING JENSEN BEACH SHREDDING PALM BEACH GARDENS SHREDDING OKEECHOBEE SHREDDING
Why is there an urgency to forge an immediate partnership with a secure on-site document destruction/shredding service as federal regulations requiring compliance deadlines draw near? Healthcare organizations have been charged with safeguarding confidential information and protecting patient privacy (thereby avoiding fines or criminal and civil prosecution), but now Medicare physician fee payments will be impacted if electronic health record (EHR) compliance is not met.
Since 1996, medical facilities, doctors’ offices, and hospitals have been required to comply with provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by protecting patient privacy. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), significantly increased data protection requirements for all healthcare organizations. The HITECH Act includes data breach notification. Any breach of confidentiality such as improperly discarded documents must be reported to the authorities, patients, and the media. The HITECH Act also allows for increased enforcement and fines of up to $1,500,000 per incident. Although the electronic health record compliance requirement was created by the ARRA and included Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for healthcare providers, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 goes further and will reduce Medicare physician fee payments if EHR compliance is not met by early 2015. http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/are-there-penalties-providers-who-don%E2%80%99t-switch-electronic-health-record.
As we work with doctors’ offices that are scanning their patient charts for EHR compliance, we realize that some medical facilities are still not as informed as they should be about the importance of using a third-party vendor to provide shredding services to ensure federal and state compliance with regard to securing and discarding the confidential information of their patients. In 2006, the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) did a survey that found 54% of healthcare organizations outsourced their information destruction needs. The same survey also showed that the trend in outsourcing was increasing. Your best protection is the use of a NAID AAA Certified document destruction company. With a third party vendor, outsourcing your shredding is more secure, it is less expensive, and there is a record of compliance. A document destruction company provides a certificate of destruction after each service.
For doctors and medical facilities in Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Rio, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Sewall’s Point, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens, Indiantown, Okeechobee, and Vero Beach, it is important to understand that a secure on-site NAID AAA Certified document destruction company with a mobile shred truck that arrives at your location and shreds all documents at your location is your greatest ally to help you avoid fines and lost reputation, and to comply with federal regulations. With the implementation of EHR for all healthcare providers, the need for secure document destruction increases—not decreases. Click on the following links for additional information.http://www.isalushealthcare.com/Resources/ElectronicMedicalRecordsMandate.aspx
Richard Kinkead, Owner/President
Gloria Kinkead, Owner/Vice President
SelectShred, Inc.
T: (772) 463-3166
