Are You Ready for August 1st?

Don’t forget that August 1st is the deadline for medical practices to comply with the Red Flags Rule.

You must be able to answer YES to these 2 questions:

• Are you verifying the identity of your patients?
• Do you have a written Identity Theft Prevention program in place?

FAQs:

Question:
Can we keep a copy of our patient’s ID, like their drivers license on file in our practice management system?

Answer:
Yes. As long as you are HIPPA compliant, you may scan the ID obtained into your practice management system. In fact, we recommend this so that you have a baseline to compare identification to the next time the patient comes in. Plus, it’s documentation that you verified the patient’s identity. Some practices are opting to take a picture of the patient –that works too.

Question:
We keep credit card information in our practice management system including the credit card number and expiration date. For the Red Flags Rule, can we still keep this information?

Answer:
As long as your practice management system is PCI compliant, then all is well. Any system that houses card holder data must be vetted by the card associations to verify compliance with PCI. If your practice management system has completed their PCI compliance, they should have a certificate of validation from Visa. For more information on PCI compliance, contact Brian Bickel at Solveras Payment Solutions at Brian@Solveras.com

Question:
What do we do with credit card information we have for patients on payment plans or for our cancellation policy?

Answer:
You want to keep written authorizations for up to 18 mos - in case a patient disputes the charges. However, you must keep those documents secure. Keeping those documents in a locked drawer and limiting access to staff who only need it is key.

Question:
Our practice obtains social security numbers (SSN). Can we still do this?

Answer:
Absolutely! There are patients who are reluctant to give out their social security number. However, for anyone who has ever turned over a patient to collections, you understand the value of having a social security number. For insurance patients who refuse to give their SSN, you may want to consider collecting full payment up front. In essence, we are extending credit to the patient – that is why we need their SSN.

Question:
What do I do if a patient doesn’t have an ID or gets upset that they must show an ID?

Answer:
We talk about this in greater detail in the webinar click here to watch free webinar (or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.solveras.com/webinar/red-flags/) . Explain to the patient’s that we are doing this to help them – we want to be sure that someone else isn’t using their identity. As for patients without a driver’s license, we can ask for other forms of ID – like a state issued ID card, a voter’s registration card, etc. The same policy includes a list of acceptable IDs.

Watch an encore presentation of the FREE Red Flags Rule webinar featuring KZA associate Cheyenne Brinson, MBA, CPA, and sponsored by Solveras Payment Solutions. It includes implementation checklists and policy samples you can customize for your practice – saving you time and money!

Click here to watch the FREE webinar (or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.solveras.com/webinar/red-flags/).

For more information visit www.karenzupko.com or call 312-642-5616.