“HIPAA is becoming the standard of care for mental health, whether or not one is officially a “covered entity”. Therefore, it is critical that all mental health practitioners, and mental health programs and agencies, understand and adhere to the standards of care under HIPAA. While maintaining confidentiality is integral to training and practice, protecting the security of information is less familiar, and there is a need for resources that address this gap in literature. HIPAA Demystified: HIPAA Compliance for Mental Health Professionals meets this need and is a practical and readable resource. Clearly explaining the regulations and law, Dr. Hecker leads the reader to answer pertinent questions to develop a step-by-step guide to implementing a customized compliance program. Key to providing safeguards is a risk assessment, and the book guides you in doing so. Dr. Hecker discusses many critical elements for a mental health practice, such as clarification of how a psychotherapy note is defined by HIPAA and what other types of information are not considered psychotherapy notes. Real world examples throughout the book illustrate the complex set of privacy and security rules applicable to mental health, thus helping the reader establish safeguards to avoid breaches. A model Notice of Privacy Practices is provided as well as numerous links to websites relevant to navigating the HIPAA road! Overall, this book is an extremely relevant and helpful resource for mental health professionals who strive to maintain the security of protected health information while navigating rapidly changing technologies”.
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