Vermont Mental Health Counselors Association
and Vermont Psychological Association present:
Getting HIP to HIPAA
Workshop description:
This workshop will provide an opportunity for attendees to come away with a practical understanding of HIPAA and how it applies to practicing counseling in Vermont.
Susan Pezzullo Rhodes, the Regional Manager of the HHS Office of Civil Rights will provide a "HIPAA 101" - a walkthrough of its compliance efforts, including overview of data, approaches and settlement agreements to train professionals on HIPAA basics. The talk will include a information dedicated to sharing information related to mental health.
Vermont attorney Shireen Hart will present "HIPAA in the Context of Practice and Vermont Law," addressing HIPPA and Vermont law in the context of patient privacy concerns impacting psychologists and other mental health care professionals.
An afternoon panel discussion will allow participants to consider case studies, address questions about HIPAA and Vermont law, and analyze complex or unusual events that trigger HIPAA and Vermont law considerations.
Objectives: By the end of the program participants will be able to:
- Describe HIPAA regulatory requirements of covered entities
- Apply regulatory requirements on providing access to health information related to mental and behavioral health
- Compare the ways that Vermont law and HIPAA intersect
- List the changes to Vermont laws impacting patient privacy
- Predict areas of vulnerability for various provider types
- Analyze issues and know when professional legal help is needed
- Apply HIPAA and Vermont law to their everyday practice and professional work
- Apply HIPAA and Vermont law to unusual situations that arise in mental health treatment, research, and billing
Details:
VTMHCA & VPA are offering a special flat rate for all attendees:
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VTMHCA members, non-members, retired - $100.00
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Students - $50.00
(payable online with credit card or mail a check)
Workshop schedule:
Check-in is at 8:30 a.m.
9:00 HIPAA 101
11:00 Break (15 minutes)
11:15 HIPAA in the Context of Practice and Vermont Law
12:00-1:00 Lunch (on your own)
1:00 Program continues
1:45 Panel discussion and Q&A
2:45 Break (15 minutes)
4:30 Program Ends
Workshop presenters:
Susan Pezzullo Rhodes serves as Regional Manager for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, New England. She has worked in civil rights and public service for over 25 years and has been with OCR since 2001 in various investigative, leadership, and management positions. Susan manages a comprehensive program of technical assistance and enforcement to ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations and federal civil rights regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex or religion in programs or activities receiving HHS assistance through the six New England states. She provides leadership, sets regional priorities, and coordinates and directs all of the regional office’s enforcement, outreach and technical assistance/ public education activities. Susan holds a B.A. from the University of Rhode Island, a J.D. from City University of New York School of Law and a Graduate Certificate in Public Management from the University of Massachusetts. Susan also holds certificates in communications and leadership and has received numerous recognitions and honors for her leadership, including prestigious Office for Civil Rights Director’s Awards for leadership and teamwork, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Regional Director’s Award for Partnership and Collaboration.
Shireen T. Hart, Esq. is a shareholder and director of Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC. Shireen has more than 19 years’ experience providing regular counsel to hospitals, long-term care facilities, community mental health agencies, pharmacies, laboratories, individual providers, and healthcare-related vendors on a broad range of federal and state compliance matters. She frequently appears before state professional licensing boards in representing individual providers who are the subject of a licensing investigation. Shireen’s strong statewide connections and effectiveness working with other attorneys and state agency/department personnel create a favorable environment in which to deliver positive results for the firm’s healthcare clients.
Brad Steinbrecher, J.D., is Director, Legal & Regulatory Affairs with the American Psychological Association’s Practice Directorate. His work touches on a range of issues, including HIPAA and state privacy laws, the Medicaid program, and healthcare reform legislation. Before joining the APA in 2014, Mr. Steinbrecher worked with law firms in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., representing clients in intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and general business matters.
J.P. Hayden, M.A., currently works in private practice in Stowe, Vermont, and is CEO of Closure LLC, providing professional wills and clinically competent death notifications for private practitioners. JP spent almost 20 years in various roles in public service including, but not limited to, school-based clinical case management and emergency services/screening. She taught graduate counseling courses for 15 years, and worked at the Vermont State Hospital, where she helped to implement an active-treatment model for psycho-social rehabilitation, and was Chief of Psychosocial Rehabilitation before moving to the Department of Mental Health in Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement, overseeing CRT and Emergency Services for the Vermont designated agencies. She resigned from public service to pursue full time private practice in Stowe.
Milton J. Marasch, Ph.D. is a psychologist-doctorate in private practice in Shelburne who has served the Vermont Psychological Association as the insurance chair since 2007, and as past Federal Advocacy Coordinator. He has consulted with and to the American Psychological Association Practice Organization (now APA Services Inc.) on state regulatory issues regarding the forthcoming HIPAA Smart product. In these roles, he has assisted members in questions regarding government insurances, commercial insurances, and government regulations as they apply to practice. He is presently the Vermont representative to the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives.
Other info:
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A limited number of half price scholarships are available on a first come, first serve basis.
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Sadly, a group discount is not available for this event.
If you are mailing registration and payment, mail your check written to VTMHCA to VTMHCA, PO Box 1132, White River Junction, VT 05001
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