Do we need a Privacy Officer?

HIPAA expects every covered entity to have a Privacy Official (sometimes called a privacy officer). That person is the named leader for privacy policies, workforce training, patient rights processes, and complaint handling.

Does it have to be a full-time job?

No. Many solo and small practices combine the role with office management. What matters is that someone is accountable, documented, and reachable when staff have questions or incidents happen.

What do they actually do?

Day-to-day, a privacy officer often:

• Keeps Notices of Privacy Practices up to date and available.
• Makes sure training happens for new hires and refreshers.
• Reviews vendor BAAs and tracks where data lives.
• Leads investigations when something goes wrong.
• Serves as the contact point for patient complaints about privacy.

How do we "designate" someone?

Put it in writing, job description addendum, policy page, or organizational chart note. Train that person enough that they know when to call counsel or a HIPAA consultant.

Pair with security leadership

Larger organizations often split privacy and security roles. Small sites may combine them, but still document who owns technical safeguards like backups and access reviews.