Privacy Trends and Your Dental Practice

Dental medical billing security is a serious topic that requires serious attention. With email phishing attacks on the rise and new patient privacy compliance requirements like HIPAA, it makes sense to take stock of what your practice is doing to keep patient and employee records safe.

Practical dental medical billing security for your office

Common dental billing issues typically involve the security of your computer hardware and physical patient records. Some simple steps you can take to reduce in-office privacy concerns include:

• Refraining from keeping physical records on employee desks for longer than required
• Having an approved document shredder available
• Ensuring that privacy screens or desktops are free from public view

Regardless of how you choose to protect the privacy of your patient records, if you are outside of HIPAA compliance, the integrity of your practice will be called into question.

Is your office HIPAA compliant?

Dental practice HIPAA compliance is not optional. Ensure that you are taking steps to rectify any issues, the most common of which involve your electronic office devices:

• Emailing sensitive patient information (social security number, birthdate, etc) 
• Improper document storage or destruction
• Losing a device with access to patient information (cell phone, desktop, laptop, etc)

Not all HIPAA breaches happen with computers, however. Train your employees to recognize potentially harmful behavior before it spreads:

• Talking about private consultations with other employees or those outside of the office
• Unauthorized employees having access to patient records
• Employees giving too much patient information over the phone or recorded message systems

Securing your dental medical billing department

Improving the security of your electronic devices is one of the easiest ways to guarantee patient privacy. Talk with your employees about the dangers of sharing sensitive patient information, and only trust your dental medical billing records to management. If you’re unsure about what to do next, the ADA provides an updated guide to best practices for information privacy. Don’t wait until a security breach compromises the integrity of your practice. Prepare today and be ready for tomorrow.

https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/