HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) imposes strict requirements on patient privacy and related matters. Another consequence of this legislation, however, is to open up significant legal liability for healthcare professionals. Take heart - the HIPAA lawyers in Colorado have the experience to guide you through the HIPAA compliance maze.
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Healthcare is one of the most strictly regulated industries in the United States. As a healthcare professional, you must navigate multiple levels of regulatory restrictions relating to employment law, advertising and trade secret protection, among others. In addition, you must harmonize all of these restrictions, and you must balance compliance concerns with your organization’s business and patient care needs.
HIPAA regulations constitute what is perhaps the most complex regulatory system of all. The HIPAA law compliance attorneys at Sequoia Legal can explain the regulatory requirements in simple, easy-to-understand terms. We can also help you create policies and procedures that will keep you compliant with HIPAA. We can periodically train your staff to effectively administer your HIPAA compliance system.
HIPAA is a federal statute that imposes uniform national standards of patient privacy on the otherwise decentralized US healthcare system. Its primary purpose is to prevent the disclosure of sensitive healthcare information about a patient unless the patient grants informed consent to the disclosure. The law includes several important aspects, as described below.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule is a national rule that grants a patient the right to control their own medical records. The rule places restrictions on who can receive or even view a patient’s health information. The Privacy Rule applies to patient healthcare information in any medium - written, oral or electronic.
The HIPAA Security Rule applies specifically to healthcare information stored in electronic form (on a computer, for example). It requires organizations that keep electronic copies of patient healthcare information (almost any hospital, for example) to designate someone to take responsibility for regulatory compliance as well as compliance policies and procedures. The Security Rule also requires organizations to perform a periodic security risk analysis.
The HITECH Act is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is designed to enforce HIPAA, and it includes the following requirements:
The Breach Notification Rule requires healthcare providers to notify patients when their unsecured health information is improperly used or disclosed in a manner that compromises the patient’s privacy or security. The healthcare provider does not have to notify the patient of improper use or disclosure if it can prove that such use or disclosure is unlikely to have caused any damage to the patient’s privacy or security interests.
Translating 115 pages of legislation into a functioning system of HIPAA compliance is no easy task - either to understand or to implement. Our medical compliance lawyers understand these requirements thoroughly, and we enjoy many years of experience in helping clients effectively implement them. Following is a very abbreviated list of how we can help you.
At Sequoia Legal, we are committed to resolving your compliance challenges in the most cost-effective manner possible and with a minimum of business disruption.
We do not represent hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Academic Medical Centers, or Allied Health Providers. We do work with the following entities and individuals, among others:
HIPAA covers the following entities (known as “covered entities” under HIPAA):
HIPAA also applies to “business associates” of any of the foregoing individuals or entities--administration or claims processing entities, for example. Even data transmission services such as regional Health Information Organizations (HIOs) qualify as business associates if they require routine access to patient medical records.
HIPAA classifies violations into four categories, based on the intentions of the entity involved (unintentional, negligent, willfully negligent, and intentional) and whether the entity tried to correct the problem. Fines range from $100 to $50,000 per violation.
Your organization can become HIPAA compliant if you study the HIPAA legislation (45 CFR Parts 160, 162, and 164) and then apply the rules to your organization. It will not be easy. HIPAA legislation is a dense material, and applying the rules is more difficult than simply reading and understanding them.
Under HIPAA, patients have the right to access healthcare information about themselves that is maintained by HIPAA-covered entities or maintained by a third party on behalf of a HIPAA-covered entity. This includes not only medical records but billing records, insurance information, and other types of records. Patients are only entitled to records that are already in existence--they cannot demand the creation of new records in response to a request.
If you would like a Colorado HIPAA law form to help you with regulatory compliance, contact Sequoia Legal by calling (303) 476-2851 or contacting us online to schedule a consultation.
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Gary D.
Sequoia Legal has been helping us with regulatory compliance matters for years now. So far, we have not had a single complaint lodged against us by any patient or entity, and no enforcement actions have been implemented or threatened. I can’t praise them enough.
Dana R.
Our company’s HIPAA compliance system was a poorly constructed time bomb waiting to explode until we contacted Sequoia Legal. With their help, we were able to fix our broken system in just a few weeks. If you are doing business in Colorado, Sequoia Legal is the name to remember.
Anna B.
We retained Sequoia Legal to perform a comprehensive review of our export compliance procedures. As a consequence of their advice, we were able to streamline our procedures to produce a much more effective, virtually error-free system. Would definitely recommend it to any company involved in international trade out of Colorado.
Jay S.
The attorneys at Sequoia Legal were always very accessible to me, and they explained matters to me with more clarity than I expected. Eventually, we were able to obtain an export license that had eluded us for quite some time.
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I have had an outstanding experience working with Hunter Boone at Sequoia Legal. He quickly responded to any and all requests for legal advice. His work was thorough, complete and timely. I will definitely be returning in the future.
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Hunter Boone, Sequoia Legal, LLC, Has reviewed two contracts for me over the past three years. One the sale of our home, the other the sale of our business after 35 years. Hunter handled everything for us professionally and thoroughly! We will use Sequoia Legal again in the future if needed.
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Andrew and Hunter where extremely knowledgeable, ethical and professional in helping me navigate business contracts with high liability. Thank you guys!
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Sequoia Legal has been a critical component to my business's success. I rely on Andrew Lopez and his team to steer us through the many challenges a business faces, from contract negotiations to M&A to internal legal matters. You are in good hands with Sequoia!
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Sequoia Legal has provided top flight legal support for my health care businesses on many occasions throughout our years of operation. Sequoia has helped in matters related to the business side of the practice, as well as in complicated medical-legal matters. We have always been very happy with their work.
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It has been a pleasure working with Sequoia Legal. Andrew and Hunter have been instrumental in helping to ensure that we are making the right decisions for our business. When we need their assistance or counsel, they handle things in an effective and efficient manner. Highly recommend working with this firm!!
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