HIPAA Compliance Event

"Prevention Beats the Cure Any Day"

On June 24th 2009, Citrus Networking Solutions Group kicked off a healthcare networking services tour entitled “HIPAA Compliance: Prevention Beats the Cure Any Day,” at the Citrus Hills Golf and Country Club. The event, designed to educate medical professionals about the risks of neglecting to become Health Information Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant, was filled to capacity. “There’s a lot of interest in HIPAA compliance right now,” said Teresa Bell, CNSG President and Citrus County’s 2008 Person of the Year. “Medical practices of all sizes are eager to take advantage of the new administration’s stimulus money for conversion to Electronic Medical Records (EMR).”
According to Dan Geiger, Florida-certified HIPAA auditor, and the featured speaker at the event, “Being HIPAA compliant is really not an option. It’s the law. But practices have been putting it off due to fear of cost or inconvenience.” The CNSG event, which was co-sponsored by Citrus Memorial Hospital, helped to demystify the process. Attendees, who included special guests, Joe Meek, Citrus County Commissioner and Blain Barton, Microsoft Regional Exchange Representative, chatted with local medical professionals about the future of technology practices in Citrus County and throughout Florida. Many were interested in CNSG’s free networking services assessment and low-cost pre-audit. “It really is time for healthcare practitioners to find out where they stand, compliance-wise, and start taking steps to remedy it,” says Geiger. The penalty for operating a non-compliant practice can be up to $250,000 or, in the most extreme cases, jail time.
One more local CNSG-sponsored HIPAA seminar is scheduled for September. From there, Teresa Bell will be taking her company’s pioneering tour on the road. “There is a huge need for information, guidance and smart, packaged networking solutions for the specific issues that medical practices deal with. We are at the forefront of this transition, and plan to be an industry leader, not only throughout Central Florida, but the entire state.”

Event Photos