TBG Releases Enhanced SAT Program for Health Care

Larkspur, CO, October 15, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Should a medical practice be more concerned with compliance or security? Yes.

As identity theft and health care fraud continue to escalate, so do the legislative compliance requirements for protecting information. This year, new federal regulations such as the FACTA Red Flags Rule and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) were introduced. HIPAA received significant changes and the promise of stronger enforcement. Every provider participating in Medicare Advantage must complete specific training on fraud, waste, and abuse by year end. Each of these regulations involves specific documentation and employee training requirements. TBG Fraud Solutions has developed enhanced training curriculum modules for health care in order to accommodate the legislative updates - all available at little or no charge to qualifying health care practices.

To effectively reduce practice risk and liability, just having a policy on the shelf and mentioning the highlights of new laws during staff meetings is generally insufficient. Compliance is only half the solution. A larger threat lies with security, and the devastating impact just one breach can have upon an organization, regardless of whether it is technically compliant or not.

Patients trust practices with their health and their personal information. Having to notify them that their personal information was lost or compromised quickly erodes or eliminates that trust altogether. Studies show that 20% to 40% of those affected by a breach will sever their relationship with the organization. A portion will even consider legal action.

The new HITECH Act should serve as a significant motivator to provide comprehensive employee training. In the event of a breach of unsecured PHI, notification must now be made to the individuals affected and in many cases to prominent media outlets as well.

Imagine your practice on national news because of lost information … not the sort of publicity you want.

TBG's Security Awareness Training program covers the various laws that pertain to information, security in general, identity theft, current scams, and how to reduce the risk of a breach at your practice. To demonstrate your compliance efforts, we provide a certificate that documents attendance and obtains individual written acknowledgements of your employee’s agreement to abide by your confidentiality and security expectations. Written policies and procedures are also provided to help achieve the goals of both compliance and security. A facility inspection is also provided to help identify areas of potential vulnerability.

Medical identity theft continues to increase, with perpetrators constantly finding new ways to exploit opportunities of which your staff is unaware. Because 61% of information breaches are due to employee error, comprehensive training is critical. If employees are trained just enough to meet minimum compliance requirements, the organization will likely miss the forest for the trees.

John Chapman is a certified expert in identity theft risk management, an affiliate member of CMGMA and PPAHCOM, and a managing partner of TBG Fraud Solutions, a national employee training firm. He specializes in providing on-site employee training, documentation, and risk management solutions for qualifying health care organizations at little or no cost, and can be reached at 877-FRAUD-47 or fraudsolutions@gmail.com.

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