Effective patient records management can be one of the most challenging aspects of running a dental practice. Ensuring your patients’ records are handled correctly allows your practice to run smoothly and helps you provide patients with the best care possible.
However, good recordkeeping isn’t just a best practice — it’s a legal requirement, and failing to know and uphold your obligations can leave you in serious trouble.
The first element of patient records management is understanding your legal obligations and how to comply with them. The second element is putting best practices in place and ensuring your entire staff is on the same page about following those practices.
Patient Records Compliance Laws
Patient records management requirements are primarily outlined in HIPAA. This body of federal laws lays out the regulations and requirements for maintaining patient records. HIPAA laws about patient recordkeeping cover topics that include:
- Keeping patient records private and secure
- Identifying what data you must record and how
- Establishing who can access patient records
- Understanding timeframes and costs for copies of patient records
- Reporting a data breach that exposes patient information
- Knowing how long you must retain patient records
- Knowing how to dispose of patient records safely
Failing to comply with HIPAA’s patient records requirements can leave you facing substantial fines and possible criminal charges. Violations can also harm your practice’s reputation and lead to the loss of patients.
Before you can begin to assess whether your practice is currently compliant and what steps you can take to better protect your patient records, it’s essential to have a strong understanding of your obligations. Once you know what your practice needs to do to ensure compliance, you can begin making changes that protect your data.
Best Practices for Patient Records Management
Some of these common best practices allow you to build a strong foundation in keeping your patient data secure.
Prioritize Privacy Protection
Requirements for ensuring that patient records are kept private and protected are one of the most complex aspects of HIPAA. Some of the many concerns a practice is responsible for include:
- Controlling access to records
- Ensuring digital data is encrypted
- Training staff on patient privacy protection
- Maintaining backups of patient records
- Reporting potential data breaches
- Record retention requirements
- Safely disposing of patient records
It can be difficult to understand the entirety of your obligations when it comes to compliance with patient privacy laws. It can be even harder to identify violations or practices that put your practice at risk.
Keep Up With Recordkeeping and Auditing
What you keep records of is just as important as keeping those records secure. Every practice should have established recordkeeping procedures. This helps ensure patient records are complete and that no information is missing.
You should also have regularly scheduled audits of your patient records. This helps you and your staff identify where documentation or information is missing and correct the issue before it’s too late.
Ensure Easy Access
Most of the time, you’re concerned with keeping your patient records protected. However, it’s important to also remember that patients and other authorized individuals have the legal right to access those records. Every practice should have an established procedure for ensuring patients have easy access to their records.
The process of requesting records should be secure but without unnecessary complications. It’s also important the process doesn’t involve lengthy wait times or excessive fees, or you can find yourself facing fines.
Speak With a Dental Law Attorney About Records Compliance
The single best practice for patient records management compliance is allowing an experienced attorney to review your practices and devise a plan to ensure patient data is kept protected.
Mahan Law is a national law firm that exclusively practices dental law. Our experienced dental law attorneys can help your practice identify patient data vulnerabilities and help create a plan to ensure patient records management compliance.
Contact Mahan Law today to schedule a free consultation with one of our dental law attorneys.
