Your HIPAA basics
Practice manager
Office managers, practice administrators, and those responsible for running the practice
This page is for you. 7 articles in your reading path.
Your reading path
Step 1 of 7, check off articles as you finish (saved in this browser).
- 1
What is HIPAA and why does it apply to my office?
HIPAA is a federal law protecting patient health information. Here's what it means for your practice in plain English.
- 2
What patient information do we need to protect?
Understand what counts as protected health information in a real office, not just charts, but conversations, schedules, and more.
- 3
Your HIPAA basics checklist
How to use medcomply.ai's plain-English checklist to see gaps before they become investigations.
- 4
Do we need a Privacy Officer?
Yes, someone must own HIPAA privacy for your organization. At a small practice, that can be a part-time role.
- 5
Do we need to sign anything? Business Associate Agreements explained simply
A plain-English look at BAAs, the contracts you need with vendors that touch patient information.
- 6
What HIPAA training does our staff actually need?
Everyone who touches patient information needs training, but the law leaves room for how you deliver it.
- 7
What should I do if I think something went wrong?
Wrong fax, strange email, lost phone, or coworker snooping, here's how to respond without making it worse.
Your checklist
Items most relevant to your role. Progress syncs with the full checklist.
Notice of Privacy Practices posted in waiting area and given to new patients
What goes in this notice? →All staff completed HIPAA training within the last year
What training is required? →A Privacy Officer has been designated at your practice
Do we need a privacy officer? →Signed Business Associate Agreements with all software vendors handling patient data
What is a BAA? →Computers are password protected and lock automatically after a few minutes
Security basics →A HIPAA risk assessment has been completed in the last 12 months
Take our free risk assessment →Written HIPAA policies and procedures are in place and accessible to staff
What policies do we need? →
Your scenarios
I think a staff member at our practice violated HIPAA
Get the answer →
We think we may have had a data breach
Get the answer →
A vendor is asking us to send them patient information
Get the answer →
A patient says they are filing a HIPAA complaint
Get the answer →
Next steps
When you're ready to go deeper, explore insights and free tools.