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Digital imaging for retinopathy of prematurity may expose physicians to HIPAA risks

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SAN FRANCISCO — Physicians who use digital imaging and telemedicine to provide evaluation and management services to infants at risk for developing retinopathy of prematurity need to take precautions to not violate HIPAA rules, according to a presenter here.

Utilizing telemedicine and digital images allows physicians to screen children for ROP and bring in opinions from outside physicians, but can run afoul of HIPAA rules, Antonio Capone Jr., MD, said at the American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting.

“Our group initiated an IT mobile device strategy. The two major components were all MD devices and laptops were updated to be encryption compliant — encryption being the most important aspect of ensuring [personal health information] was protected in transmission. Secondly, all users were trained regarding the use of such devices and risk vulnerabilities,” he said.

To reduce HIPAA violations and ROP-related malpractice claims, Capone said all physicians in his group use iPhone 6 devices, which are already encrypted, use a two-phase user authentication, enable a phone screen lock, and install and activate iCloud so devices can be located and information wiped if necessary.

Additionally, physicians use only HIPAA-secure third-party file-sharing applications, send only encrypted images from a computer, and use HIPAA-secure text programs when sending personal health information, he said.

“HIPAA vulnerabilities can be reasonably managed with a proactive strategy as part of a security risk assessment plan,” Capone said. – by Robert Linnehan and Patricia Nale, ELS

Reference:

Capone A. HIPAA and malpractice pitfalls in providing care to infants at risk for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) for physicians employing digital imaging technologies. Presented at: American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting; Aug. 9-14, 2016; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Capone reports he is the founder of FocusROP and is a stockholder and has intellectual property rights with the company.