HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, sets the standard for protecting sensitive patient data. Any company that deals with protected health information (PHI) must ensure that all the required physical, network, and process security measures are in place and followed.

HIPAA protection applies to all information relating “to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare.” Materials that would contain such protected information include patient histories, logs, notes, forms, billing and insurance information, and any other records containing personal information in the possession of healthcare providers.

All Medical Practices Must Comply

Regardless of size, all healthcare providers in the United States must have documented policies defining reasonable measures that are being taken to protect personal health information and ensure the organization is protecting against unauthorized access to personal information. This includes all organizations or individuals who retain and/or collect health-related information, such as:

  • Hospitals
  • Medical Centers
  • Insurance Companies
  • Billing Centers
  • Collection Agencies
  • Doctors
  • Dentists
  • Chiropractors
  • Psychiatrists
  • Psychologists

and any other institutions or individuals responsible for personal health-related information.

SecureMed can support your compliance efforts by providing purge services or by placing one of our locked security consoles in your office.

Our highly trained and certified security professionals efficiently shred all documents right on your premises and provide you with a Certificate of Destruction that records each shred.

Increased Enforcement

Recently, HIPAA has significantly increased its data protection requirements and liabilities for health related organizations. Secure Destruction is committed to your security and helping you stay compliant with all laws and regulations.

Data Breach Notification

Any breach, such as improperly discarded documents or computers, must now be reported to the authorities and to patients when the breach involves over 500 records. Failure to report violations of confidentiality is now a crime.

Increased Enforcement

State Attorneys General are now responsible to enforce HIPAA’s data security provisions. The new law provides an incentive for enforcement by allowing the state’s Attorney General to retain revenue from the fines they impose.

Vendor Contract Requirements

The new HIPAA amendment requires a Business Associate agreement be entered into with data-related service providers. Agreements in place before the amendment must be modified to include the new requirements. The amendment also makes vendors as responsible as their customer for having the agreement in place.

SecureMed will provide you with an updated Business Associate Agreement.

If you are interested in a healthcare shredding service quote or more information, please contact us by phone or send us a note.

Quick Quote

Our team is ready to review your company’s specific medical waste removal needs and come up with a solution to fit your budget.

To receive your fast free quote, call either our Birmingham or Huntsville telephone number. You may also send a note using our contact form or email us directly at [email protected]

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