The personal data breaches involving Equifax, which affected over 140 million people compromising their personal data that included social security, date of birth and other personal data, has heightened patients awareness when providing their personal data to anyone, including their health care providers. In addition, the recent news about Wi Fi security measures having potential vulnerabilities and risk for data breaches almost makes it mandatory you take safeguards to protect your identity.
At Tottori Allergy & Asthma, we have increased our safe guards with regards to protecting our patient’s personal identity. Some of these safe guards include the following:
- Using a Certified HIPAA Document Destruction/Storage Facility
- Using Certified HIPAA Document Destruction On Site Containers
- Using the most advanced Encrypted Credit Card Machine Services
- Initial and Ongoing Training of our staff on HIPAA Regulations to Protect Health Information
- Using the most state of the art HIPAA Information Technology Security Systems In the Industry for all aspects of computer usage
- Contracting a HIPAA consultant to maintain HIPAA policies and training
We pride ourselves with having a “Red Flag” Identity theft program, which educates our employees on identifying potential data breaches. Although, the majority of health insurances mandate we collect your personal identity in order to submit payment to them, we are confident our facility has the safeguards to protect your identity. We will continue to monitor our policies and update them as the vulnerabilities change over time. Our commitment to providing quality medicine and protecting your personal identity is our highest priority.
I recommend all patients, seek the free assistance offered by Equifax, to protect your identity and monitor any potential data breaches of your personal identity. We look forward to seeing you in the future and always I wish you well and good health.
Regards,
Dr. David H. Tottori
