The MDS Dental Practice and Benefits committee reminds you that all dental practices must follow Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protection guidelines. This means you must have privacy protection standards in place in your office to protect individual identifiable health information. But what happens if you suspect the privacy of your patient records has been compromised?

If you discover that the integrity of your data has been compromised, you must report the issue to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The timeline for reporting depends on if the breach impacts 500 or more individuals. A HIPAA-covered entity must report annually any breach of protected health information affecting less than 500 individuals to the HHS. The deadline to report such breaches is before the 60th day of the year following the date of the breach. A breach affecting 500 or more individuals must be reported to the agency within 60 days of the incident. Learn more about how to submit a violation report.