MARBLEHEAD, Mass., Jan., 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- HCPro Inc., http://www.hcpro.com, a healthcare publisher and training company, today announced it has achieved a major milestone by training more than 1 million healthcare professionals on The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
HIPAA requires that all healthcare workers be trained on how to protect the privacy of their patients before April 14, 2003, the federal compliance date for the HIPAA Privacy Regulation. HCPro currently holds agreements to train or is in the process of training 1 million healthcare workers.
"No other company or organization in the country has come close to this benchmark," said Suzanne Perney, HCPro vice president and publisher.
HCPro training offers unique multiple formats, individual customization, and need-to-know information products. The HCPro HIPAA training formats include customized handbooks written for everyone from entry level employees to top tier executives; online training; print and online newsletters; videos; audio conferences; and CD-ROMs.
"With 1 million healthcare professionals using our training tools, HCPro is the leader in HIPAA compliance training. HCPro's success is based on our experience and expertise to effectively deliver timely and cost-effective solutions to busy healthcare organizations," said Bruce Guzowski, HCPro president and chief executive officer. "The key to compliance is to offer training that will be learned, retained and incorporated in the daily information management of every employee."
About HIPAA
HIPAA is the first federal legislation affecting the use, release and transmission of personally identifiable medical information. HIPAA was developed to facilitate the use of electronic transmissions, while ensuring privacy and security. Noncompliance can result in criminal and civil penalties.
About HCPro HIPAA Training Handbooks
Privacy and security training through well-written and easy-to-understand handbooks is available from HCPro for everyone in the healthcare profession including staff and volunteers at hospitals, physician offices, long-term care facilities and home health agencies.
Organizations currently implementing HCPro handbook training include:
- Meridian Health System, the largest employer in Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey with 7,500 employees, more than 2,400 volunteers and auxiliaries, and strong affiliations with 1,300 of the area's physicians.
- Children's Health System of Alabama with more than 2,500 employees, 220 doctors and dentists, along with 280 volunteers.
- Georgia's WellStar Health System with 8,000 employees.
- Christus Health System, consisting of more than 40 hospitals and facilities in five American states and Mexico.
- Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa, Calif., with more than 1,200 employees.
- Loudoun Healthcare Inc., a community nonprofit healthcare organization, located in Virginia with more than 400 physicians on staff.
About HCProfessor
Over 400,000 healthcare professionals are now getting their HIPAA compliance training from HCPro's customizable online courses provided by HCProfessor, http://www.hcprofessor.com, HCPro's online learning division.
Healthcare organizations using HCProfessor include:
- California-based Kaiser Permanente, the country's largest not-for-profit health maintenance organization, with 8.4 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia.
- DigitalMed, Inc., a company that helps healthcare providers achieve corporate goals through customized, enterprise-wide learning solutions. DigitalMed is a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare Corporation, and delivers online learning services to employees at Tenet facilities. Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates 113 acute-care hospitals and related healthcare services and employs 114,300 people serving communities in 16 states.
- Executive Office of Health and Human Services of Massachusetts, including the Office of Child Care Services, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Mental Health which staff members in 14 different offices.
- Group Health Cooperative, the nation's largest consumer-governed, nonprofit healthcare system, based in Seattle.
HCProfessor also offers custom online course development on HIPAA, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations accreditation, medical records/health information management, corporate compliance, coding compliance, credentialing/privileging/medical staff, long-term care facility and patient safety, physician practice management, and health care administration.
About HCPro
HCPro, located at 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA, is a leading publisher and educator on regulatory and compliance issues faced by hospitals, home health organizations, nursing homes, physicians' offices, and other healthcare facilities. Established in 1986, HCPro is the parent company of The Greeley Company.
HCPro publishes 34 monthly newsletters, 30 weekly e-zines, and more than 150 books about healthcare compliance and regulatory issues for the healthcare industry. The Greeley Company is a healthcare consulting and educational services firm. HCPro also provides content-rich vertical niche Web sites along with related free e-mail newsletters to create specialized communities for healthcare professionals.