PRMS
Assistant Vice President Simplifies HIPAA at AOOP Conference
It
has become the H-word in medicine: HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996. Physicians and office members often
dread learning about this important act – or even worse, disregard
it – because of its confusing and complicated language. This is
when Donna Vanderpool, MBA, JD, comes to the rescue.
Ms.
Vanderpool of Professional Risk Management Services, Inc., is an expert
on HIPAA and how to translate it to the masses. She recently brought
this knowledge to San Diego for the 15th Annual Conference of the Academy
of Organizational and Occupation Psychiatry on January 18, 2004. Her
presentation, HIPAA’s Impact on Organizational and Occupational
Psychiatrists, had over fifty attendees and met with great response.
The conference, cosponsored by the American College of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, was an ideal location to teach physicians
about HIPAA and the Privacy Rule.
Ms. Vanderpool has recently been promoted to Assistant
Vice President of Risk Management. Known not only for her educational
presentations, Ms. Vanderpool has been recognized for many aspects of
her risk management contributions. These include work published in Psychiatric
News, the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice
Law Journal and Psychiatric Practice and Managed Care.
As a part of the team that staffs the Risk Management
Consultation Service Helpline, Ms. Vanderpool interacts one-on-one with
participants of The Psychiatrists’ Program, providing advice and
recommendations on risk management issues encountered in their practice.
This is a valued feature of Program participants who are able to receive
this advice even as situations occur.
Although Ms. Vanderpool is an expert in clinical risk
management, her specialty is her knowledge of HIPAA. At a time when
so many healthcare professionals need assistance in deciphering the
language behind the new act, Ms. Vanderpool has worked to make it much
more understandable. She has spoken and written nationally on the subject,
as well as created diagrams, articles, forms, and an overall manual
for the extensive HIPAA Help section on The Psychiatrists’ Program
web site.
Ms. Vanderpool received her undergraduate degree from
James Madison University, and her MBA and JD from George Mason University.
Prior to coming to PRMS, she spent eight years managing a general surgical
practice, where she was responsible for assessing and developing risk
management strategies. Ms. Vanderpool has developed and implemented
compliance programs for fraud and abuse, coding, OSHA, and other practice
areas. She has also taught business and legal assistant courses at a
local community college.
For more information on risk management services at PRMS,
please contact Cindy Smith at 800-245-3333., ext 347.
|
