We’re excited to have Ann Marie DePalma, RDH, back on our show again (previously heard on episode 90)! We met up with her at the Yankee Dental Congress in very chilly Boston where we got to talking about how your office can stay on the up and up with technology and health care compliance.

The big topic this episode is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which dictates how patient information is directed throughout the American health care system and protects that patient information from theft or fraud. Any dental office that processes patient medical and insurance information—so literally every dental office—needs to be compliant with HIPAA to ensure our patients are secure and that charts are properly archived and transmitted.

In this episode, Ann Marie discusses the dos and don’ts of HIPAA compliance, how you can make your office as cyber-secure as possible, and making sure your fellow staff are fully trained on the software they’re using.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

Interview starts:  

- Getting used to and properly using computer technology at the office to prevent accidental exposure of patient or clinic info.

- The utmost importance of keeping patient-related emails encrypted when sending.

- Get a professional for IT in your office, and why you should consider setting up two separate networks.

- Some of the security violations Ann Marie has seen in her time and why they happened.

- Why offices frequently fall behind technology training.

- Should your office go paper-free or chart-free?

- WATCH OUT FOR THE HIPAA POLICE.

QUOTES:

“Most practices are surviving in their software; they’re not using it.”

“They’re only using a very small portion of what technology can provide.”

LINKS:

Ann Marie’s email - [email protected]

Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits!

THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state.

Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit!

Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236

Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences!

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