3 Dentists and an OCR officer walk into a bar. The first dentist says, “HIPAA doesn’t apply to us”, the second dentist says, “Yes it does, but I am not big enough for OCR to care about” and the third dentist says, “I think we should all change our way of thinking.” Which one do you agree with? Listen to 3 Dental Offices Learn About OCR – Ep 376 from Help Me With HIPAA to see which one is right.
In 3 Dental Offices Learn About OCR – Ep 376, Donna and David tell us about three offices that should have known that OCR does care about them and doesn’t care how big they are. In these cases, OCR is trying to help dental offices understand that patients have a fundamental right under HIPAA to receive their requested medical records, in most cases, within 30 days. This is known as “patient right of access”. In the first case, it took around five months for the patient to receive their records. The dentist office was fined $30,000 for their negligence in the matter. The second OCR resolution involved a dental practice who told a patient they could have their records, but it would cost them over $150 dollars… wow!. I am sure the dentist office did not like the $80,000 settlement OCR required the dentist to pay. Listen to this Help Me With HIPAA episode to hear about the third case. You may think that the fine that OCR imposes for these violations were really not that high, but you have to take into account they also included a corrective action plan (CAP) that OCR will oversee. That costs employee resources, time and all that equals more money. In fact, most offices given the choice to pay a fine or go on a CAP would opt to stroke a check. OCR is more concerned about healthcare practices following the law and that’s where the CAP comes in.
Dentists fall under HIPAA, much to their disbelief, and Patient Right of Access is extremely high on OCR’s radar. So, listen to 3 Dental Offices Learn About OCR – 376 to hear all the details and also about how Donna’s dentist is always happy to see her.
Don’t forget to check out the PriSec Boot Camp being held March 12 – 15, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency in Louisville, KY! Registration is open! Get in on the Early Bird pricing now! Hope to see you there!!
