CIPP-US · Question #141
SCENARIO Please use the following to answer the next question: Miraculous Healthcare is a large medical practice with multiple locations in California and Nevada. Miraculous normally treats patients…
The correct answer is D. Engage in active oversight of MedApps. When handling sensitive data, such as protected health information (PHI) in compliance with HIPAA, it is crucial for covered entities, such as Miraculous Healthcare, to ensure that their business associates (e.g., MedApps) appropriately safeguard the data they process. While…
Question
SCENARIO Please use the following to answer the next question:
Miraculous Healthcare is a large medical practice with multiple locations in California and Nevada. Miraculous normally treats patients in person, but has recently decided to start offering teleheaith appointments, where patients can have virtual appointments with on-site doctors via a phone app. For this new initiative. Miraculous is considering a product built by MedApps, a company that makes quality teleheaith apps for healthcare practices and licenses them to be used with the practices' branding. MedApps provides technical support for the app. which it hosts in the cloud MedApps also offers an optional benchmarking service for providers who wish to compare their practice to others using the service. Riya is the Privacy Officer at Miraculous, responsible for the practice's compliance with HIPAA and other applicable laws, and she works with the Miraculous procurement team to get vendor agreements in place. She occasionally assists procurement in vetting vendors and inquiring about their own compliance practices. as well as negotiating the terms of vendor agreements Riya is currently reviewing the suitability of the MedApps app from a privacy perspective. Riya has also been asked by the Miraculous Healthcare business operations team to review the MedApps' optional benchmarking service. Of particular concern is the requirement that Miraculous Healthcare upload information about the appointments to a portal hosted by MedApps. What is the most practical action Riya can take to minimize the privacy risks of using an app for telehealth appointments?
Options
- APrevent MedApps from using copies of the patient data.
- BRequire MedApps to obtain consent from all patients.
- CRequire MedApps to submit a SOC2 report.
- DEngage in active oversight of MedApps
How the community answered
(65 responses)- A11% (7)
- B3% (2)
- C5% (3)
- D82% (53)
Explanation
When handling sensitive data, such as protected health information (PHI) in compliance with HIPAA, it is crucial for covered entities, such as Miraculous Healthcare, to ensure that their business associates (e.g., MedApps) appropriately safeguard the data they process. While contracts like Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) establish the obligations of business associates, active oversight by the covered entity is a practical and necessary step to mitigate privacy risks and ensure compliance. Why Active Oversight is the Best Option: Active oversight involves regular monitoring, audits, and reviews of MedApps' practices to ensure they comply with the agreed-upon privacy and security obligations. This approach allows Miraculous Healthcare to confirm that MedApps is implementing appropriate technical and organizational safeguards, such as encryption, secure access controls, and breach notification It also ensures that MedApps remains compliant with HIPAA requirements over time, even if there are changes to the app, its services, or legal requirements.
Topics
Community Discussion
No community discussion yet for this question.