Staying HIPAA Compliant in Southeast Wisconsin
What is HIPAA?
HIPAA is a federal law that was signed into effect in 1996 to help combat fraud and abuse that was taking place in the Health Insurance Industry.
The law is meant to help protect information including patient histories, logs, billing information, medical forms and any other records that may contain patient personal information that is in the possession of healthcare providers.
How Does HIPAA Affect Wisconsin?
If a business violates HIPAA laws in Wisconsin and are found to be willfully neglectful, they can be served with fines that range between $10,000 to $50,000 per violation.
You can get a detailed overview of Wisconsin’s HIPAA laws and resources pertaining to the law at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.
What Entities Are Covered Under HIPAA?
- Doctors
- Clinics
- Psychologists
- Dentists
- Chiropractors
- Nursing Homes
- Pharmacies
- Health insurance companies
- HMOs
- Company health plans
How Can You Stay HIPAA Compliant?
There are rules to how you must secure and destroy documents and data to with HIPAA compliance according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
- Shredding – Documents must be destroyed (shredded) to the point that they are rendered unreadable, indecipherable and cannot be reconstructed.
- Media Destruction – Data stored on electronic devices must be cleared, degaussed or destroyed (For all electronic media we suggest clearing or degaussing followed by a complete physical destruction. The safest way to truly destroy data is to make sure the device it was stored on is unable to be used again).
Choosing a document destruction company that is HIPAA compliant and understands the law is important.
We offer onsite shredding and data destruction services to help medical institutions in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth Counties maintain HIPAA compliance. This means that we come to your site and allow you to witness the entire destruction process so that you can be sure it is being done right. For your convenience and compliance, we offer locking confidential document collection containers for your facility. We can arrange a convenient schedule for “Container Service” so that your confidential waste is destroyed in a timely and effcient manner. Of course, a “Certificate of Destruction” is issued for your records with each shredding visit.
If you have any questions, or need help with your medical document destruction, contact us.