HIPAA Required Maintenance Log – Template Available

Unearth an often overlooked aspect of HIPAA: beyond safeguarding patient data, you’re obligated to monitor alterations in your practice’s physical safeguards, such as locks and security systems. Dive into the video for comprehensive insights!

Template for ICS Members (sign-in required)

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Transcript:

As you all know, HIPAA is designed to protect the information that you store, that is the patient’s. So that protected health information you’re required to protect it. We all know this. And we know that we have to take the appropriate safeguards. But did you know that actually, HIPAA also requires that you track any changes to those physical controls in your practice? So for example, you have walls up that obviously protect where some of those files are, where some of the computers that store some of the electronic protected health information are, you have locks on your doors, you have security systems, maybe even security cameras. But did you know that whenever you make changes to any of these physical controls, in your practice, you’re required to actually keep a log of all of those changes and make sure they are maintained, then in your overall compliance handbook or in your HIPAA compliance handbook that you have, and that you maintain ongoing?

So what does this look like? Actually, they require that you track the date, the actual component that you change. So for example, if you have an employee leave, and you have to change the locks on your doors, then you would track your front door, your back door, side door, whatever doors that you had to change all of the locks on at that particular time. So you have to track that component. The reason why you made any modifications or upgrades or changes to that particular component, and then who authorized it. So the date, the component, the reason, and who authorized it, each of those components have to be tracked.

Now, the good news is we’re making this simple for you, we actually have a template that you can download and utilize. It’s just a simple Excel spreadsheet, and you can download that for our members. That is, that link is down below. In this description. You can download it keep track, and make sure you just maintain that in your HIPAA manual. You may want to change your policies and procedures to also include in writing what the policy is for when that gets changed or the procedures for actually keeping track of that log. Super simple way to improve your compliance and your practice. We’ll catch you next week.