IDA – HIPPA Compliance Statement

HIPPA COMPLIANCE – REQUIREMENTS

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) drafted the Privacy Rule to allow for no interruption or interference with respect to the sharing of data between healthcare providers for the treatment of their patients. Under the Privacy Rule for dental laboratory services that are provided by our lab in accordance with your prescriptions, a Business Associate Agreement is not required.

Under this Privacy Rule, any dentist or their associated dental laboratory that carryout prosthetic work orders on behalf of the dentists are classified as health care providers. Any disclosures that are made between the dental laboratory and yourself, relating to treatment or associated activities related to the treatment are explicitly exempt from the BAA requirements of the Privacy Rule.

The exclusive Office of Civil Rights (OCR), and the HSS agency that is charged with enforcement provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule have confirmed that OCR the agrees that dental laboratories are correctly classified as health care providers. For this reason, no BAA is needed in order to share protected health data for the purposes of any past, present or future treatment.

Furthermore, our dental laboratory does not have access to, nor are they in receipt of any telephone numbers, dates of birth, medical records, addresses, social security numbers or any other information that could directly identify an individual or their ‘Protected Health Information.’ Clients’ names are only utilized by us to help identify an individual case. If preferred, you can also use an in-office coding system in order to help you identify individual cases instead of using full names.

Some specific examples of transactions which are covered under HIPAA compliance regulations can be seen in the ADA News. For reference, this can be found by searching for the March 17, 2003 issue that is called “Final HIPAA electronic health care transaction standards announced.” The content is outlined on page 15).

If you need further clarification or assistance, then the HIPAA hotline can be reached by calling 312-440-2899, ext. 3.

Although there is no requirement for a BAA between you and our dental laboratory, at IDA, we always remain fully committed to our responsibilities to protect and safeguard the confidentiality of our clients. We provide additional assurance that no privileged or confidential patient-doctor data will ever be disclosed without first gaining your exclusive authorization and full consent.

At IDA, we appreciate your custom and the opportunity to serve and support the ongoing treatment of your patients. As always, we sincerely thank you for choosing IDA, and we look forward to serving you and your clients again soon.