By ABYDE
How Abyde’s simplified solution gave Comprehensive Dental Care “one less thing to worry about” and much-needed “peace of mind” in their complete HIPAA-compliance program.
“Solved a Problem We Didn’t Even Know We Had”
For many practice owners and managers, it’s common for HIPAA compliance to become a “secondary thought” when added to the quite extensive list of other roles and responsibilities. While many independent providers find it often infeasible to dedicate a full-time position solely focused on HIPAA privacy and security, the recent rise in data breaches and government enforcement has made prioritizing compliance a must. So when it came to finding much needed “peace of mind” for practice owner and manager of Comprehensive Dental Care, dentist Dr. Oscar Menendez and Denise Mendendez, Abyde “solved the problem they didn’t even know they had” with a simplified approach to achieving HIPAA compliance.
As a successful practice in the dental industry for more than 35 years, Comprehensive Dental had always assumed that completing their annual HIPAA-training courses and maintaining a culture of compliance within their organization was enough to avoid the so-called “HIPAA police.” They maintained a strong focus on patient care and protecting sensitive health data, but just lacked the documentation to prove their efforts in meeting these important HIPAA standards. However, with the many legislative changes, HIPAA violations and cyber attacks that have seemed to take the health care industry by storm over the past year, they saw the increasing importance of filling in some of those small gaps that might have previously been missing.
Easy-to-Manage Compliance, Easy-to-Use Software
As most practice managers could probably attest to, Denise simply “didn’t want to manage another thing” and was looking for a solution that not only made HIPAA easy but was easy to use itself. She was familiar with the DIS'S preferred HIPAA-compliance vendor, Abyde, and “after seeing the presentation and learning a few statistics on HIPAA laws/lawsuits,” she became “very interested in the product.” Immediately after signing up, Denise was “pleasantly surprised that Abyde did everything that they said they would do in the initial contact with the sales representative” and she was “extremely impressed with the program itself and its ease of use” and happy to find that the “setup process wasn’t very hard or time consuming” to work into her already busy schedule.
Beyond the onboarding process, Denise has found that the maintenance involved with using Abyde was a no-brainer. As new laws and patient needs continue to evolve, “practice managers get busy and don’t necessarily have the time to manage the complexities of HIPAA.” And while years ago having a lock on the cabinet that held patient records might’ve seemed like enough to keep data protected, technology and social media have “blurred the lines” between patient confidentiality and HIPAA best practices. So for Denise, “receiving emails and notifications has made keeping up with any necessary updates simple and provides assurance that nothing is being missed.”
“One Less Thing to Worry About”
In addition to taking some of the HIPAA weight off of Denise’s shoulders, Abyde also gave practice owner, Dr. Oscar Menendez, “one less thing to worry about.” With industry-leading features including automated and engaging HIPAA training videos, he was provided confidence that each of his staff members were given the necessary education to handle patient information properly. As there is no telling when your organization may come face-to-face with a HIPAA incident, whether due to the rising risk of health care data breaches or increase in patient complaint numbers, Dr. Menendez notes that “if you do experience some type of incident, having documented proof of compliance and knowing how to address it is essential.”
While Denise emphasizes that the Abyde software solution itself is one of the “easiest I’ve ever seen or worked with,” there’s even more value beyond the uniquely better interface, including a support team of HIPAA experts that Dr. Menendez is thankful are always available ”to guide us through” any questions. Between the automated notifications, comprehensive Security Risk Analysis, HIPAA training videos and other industry leading features, Abyde provides endless benefits for health care organizations all across the country.
When looking at the time and resources that’s required to manage a complete HIPAA program in-house, having a solution that “for a small fee, keeps us up to date, compliant and more aware” has been a huge help for Comprehensive Dental Care. And the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your practice is not only compliant, but also has the documentation to prove compliance efforts is truly priceless. So, no matter if you’re a small independent dental provider or a large multi-location organization, in Dr. Menendez’s words himself, “Every provider should have Abyde — they’re crazy not to!”
Abyde is a DIS preferred vendor and the Abyde software solution is the easiest way for any sized dental practice to implement and sustain comprehensive HIPAA compliance programs. For more information 800.594.0883 or visit www.abyde.com.