Survey: With HIPAA audits looming, small practices far from compliant

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Dec 03, 2014, 08:30 ET

ATLANTA, Dec. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- NueMD in partnership with Porter Research and The Daniel Brown Law Group, today announced the results of its recent survey on HIPAA compliance within small practices and billing companies. The survey of more than 1,100 healthcare professionals, conducted during October 2014, found medical practices and billing companies are struggling to comply with regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

"Understanding HIPAA can be difficult for practices and billing companies, especially if they're already scrambling to keep up with changes like ICD-10 and Meaningful Use," said Caleb Clarke, sales and marketing director at NueMD. "With audits looming, we wanted to get a sense of where the industry stands and provide resources to help those who may be struggling."

The survey found:

66% of respondents were unaware of HIPAA audits
35% of respondents said their business has conducted a HIPAA-required risk analysis
34% of owners, managers, and administrators reported that they were "very confident" that their electronic devices that contain PHI were HIPAA compliant
24% of managers, owners, and administrators at medical practices reported that they've evaluated all of their Business Associate Agreements
56% of office staff and (non-owner) care providers at practices said they've received HIPAA training in the last year

"It's troubling to see that so many practices aren't participating in training programs for their staff, said Daniel Brown, managing shareholder at The Daniel Brown Law Group. "If an audit were to occur at that particular practice, one of the biggest red flags is that the staff is unaware of the HIPAA compliance plan and what their role is in it."

NueMD has published the results in an easy-to-consume narrative that explains aspects of HIPAA compliance, presents the data, and offers resources for practices and billing companies who want to learn more.

To view the results, please visit http://www.nuemd.com/hipaa/survey.

About NueMD
NueMD is the leading provider of cloud-based medical practice management software for small practices. Powered by Nuesoft Technologies, Inc., NueMD offers practice management, electronic health record, and medical billing software and services to help physicians maintain the clinical and financial well-being of their practice. For more information, please visit www.nuemd.com.

About Porter Research
Porter Research - a Billian Inc. company - has for over 20 years worked diligently to understand and assess each client's unique needs and build a customized business-to-business research program to achieve desired goals. Combining unparalleled experience, proven methodologies and knowledge-based analysis, Porter provides the unbiased results that healthcare clients need to make informed strategic business decisions.

About The Daniel Brown Law Group, LLC
The attorneys at the Daniel Brown Law Group address the full spectrum of transactional and regulatory health care law, including Stark, Anti-Kickback, HIPAA, Medicare Audits and Appeals and other healthcare regulatory compliance issues, as well as advising clients on structuring new health care service lines, mergers, consolidations and joint ventures.

Video - http://youtu.be/x1ojmzDPCUw

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SOURCE NueMD