FAQs on HIPAA Final Rule resources

By Legal & Regulatory Affairs staff 

Here are answers to frequently asked questions from members about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Final Rule compliance resources and products offered by APAPO. A complete list of HIPAA Final Rule compliance resources can be found in the HIPAA Compliance section of the APA Practice Organization’s (APAPO) Practice Central website. 

1. Is the HIPAA for Psychologists product/continuing education (CE) course updated to meet the requirements of the HIPAA Final Rule? How do I get those updates?

The APA Practice Organization’s July 2013 resource — HIPAA Final Rule: What you need to do now — provides updates to HIPAA for Psychologists, the APAPO/APA Insurance Trust Privacy Rule compliance product. For brevity, we call the July document the Final Rule Resource, or Resource. 

The Final Rule Resource contains the new template language (“inserts”) practitioners need to include in their existing HIPAA forms from the HIPAA for Psychologists product to meet the Final Rule changes. (Users insert the new text by copying and pasting between Word documents.) The inserts update the privacy notice, business associate contract and policies and procedures. The Final Rule Resource also explains these and other key changes in the Final Rule, and gives instructions for using the inserts. 

This document is available free to APA Practice Organization members, and to prior and future purchasers of the HIPAA for Psychologists compliance product.

The Final Rule Resource was sent out to APA Practice Organization members in the July 25 issue of PracticeUpdate and is available at the link below.

The HIPAA Final Rule: What you need to do now (PDF, 551KB).

If you are an APA Practice Organization member and have trouble logging in to this locked content, see question 4 below.

2. I already purchased HIPAA for Psychologists. How do I get the Final Rule Resource?

The Final Rule Resource has been attached to the HIPAA for Psychologists product since early August 2013. If you purchased the product after that time, you should have received the Final Rule document at the time of purchase. 

If you purchased HIPAA for Psychologists before August 2013, the Final Rule Resource has been added to your “course locker” and can be accessed when you log back into the product. To log back in, go to MyAPA, log in and then click on the name of the course in the "CE & Professional Development" area. The link will take you to your course. (HIPAA for Psychologists purchasers get a “MyAPA” login even if they are not APA members.)

If you are still having problems accessing the Resource, please contact Practice Course Help by email or call (800) 374-2721 and ask for extension 7576.

3. How do I purchase HIPAA for Psychologists?

HIPAA for Psychologists is available on the Practice Central website. 

4. I am an APA Practice Organization member, but I’ve forgotten how to log in to access locked content. What do I do?

You can log into members-only content from the upper right hand corner of any apapracticecentral.org page. Or you can access the login screen directly from any article with a “lock” icon next to it. 

To log in, you will use your standard MyAPA login and password. If you are an APA member, you automatically have a MyAPA account. 

If you can’t remember your password, use the “Look up your account” link on the login page to have your password sent to you.

5. Why is the Final Rule Resource only made available to APA Practice Organization members and HIPAA for Psychologists purchasers?

We are providing the Final Rule Resource free to HIPAA for Psychologists purchasers because it is designed to update the HIPAA forms in that Privacy Rule compliance product. It is also designed to update a practitioner’s ongoing HIPAA compliance knowledge and practices. The Resource will be of little use to practitioners who are not already complying with HIPAA and who do not already have HIPAA forms.

We are providing the Resource to APA Practice Organization members because substantial APAPO resources — hundreds of hours from APAPO attorneys, psychologists and communications experts — went into developing the Resource.