Small Practice Owners Guide to HIPAA Compliance Programs
A guide from The HIPAA Journal addresses how small medical practice owners bear direct legal responsibility for HIPAA compliance, even when routine compliance tasks are delegated to staff or third parties. The piece outlines how that personal accountability shapes what a functioning compliance program needs to look like.
Why this matters: Small practice owners cannot hand off HIPAA liability the way they hand off billing or scheduling. If a staff member mishandles patient records, the owner is still on the hook. That gap between who does the work and who owns the risk is where most small practices get into trouble. Patient health data is some of the most sensitive information that exists. The people responsible for protecting it need to understand that 'we have someone who handles that' is not a legal defense.
Who should care: Healthcare professionals · Privacy officers · Compliance · Lawyers
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