UAMS HIPAA Office Mission Statement:

Our mission is to oversee compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security regulations for all UAMS covered components of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hybrid entity and UAMS policies related to privacy and security of patient information.

 

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE & ETHICS WEEK

Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week began in 2005 to shine a spotlight on the importance of compliance and ethics. The core principles of the week are awareness, recognition, and reinforcement. Beginning 2019, each of the four areas of the UAMS Office of Institutional Compliance ​selects one member of Team UAMS to recognize as their Compliance Champion for the year. Here are the nominees for the HIPAA Compliance Champion:

2022 HIPAA Compliance Champions

Outpatient Pharmacy

For years, Outpatient Pharmacy was having a lot of breaches involving medications and patient information given to the wrong patient. They constantly advocated to get more space. They have a very high volume of patients and since they have moved into their new space, breaches have significantly decreased. They are always diligent about reporting HIPAA violations to the HIPAA Office and sending thorough information to help the HIPAA Office investigate the incident. They work diligently with patients to make sure patients send the medications back that they received in error and make sure the other patient gets their correct prescription. It’s really difficult to name 1 person in Outpatient Pharmacy as a HIPAA champion. All of Outpatient Pharmacy has worked long and hard and we would like to recognize the entire department.

Linda Williams, M.S., Research Program Manager

Linda Williams has been a constant contributor to the Information Security posture of UAMS for many years, acting behind the scenes as a curator of helpful information. She routinely scours a vast array of security-focused alerts, blogs, articles, papers and events, reporting those she finds compelling.

We often learn of new threats and responsive tactics from Linda long before they begin showing up in more mundane feeds. Her consistent contributions manifest a sense of deep caring and personal awareness. Her extraordinary gift for digesting technical reports and passing on those of highest relevance gives extraordinary value to her communications, which we consume too often without the luxury of comment.  In addition, Linda is active in our local community. She is currently serving as president of the InfraGard Arkansas Members Alliance. InfraGard is an FBI-affiliated nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the protection of the United States and the American people.  Linda knows she has our gratitude, but deserves a broader recognition of her efforts and invaluable contributions.  Linda Williams fully embodies the spirit of Team UAMS, and for her help keeping us well informed over the years we wish to recognize her and say, “Thank you!”

2021 HIPAA Compliance Champion

Cara Kirby, RHIA, HIM Data Integrity Manager

Heather Schmiegelow, HIPAA Campus Coordinator and UAMS Privacy Officer, together with her team nominated Cara Kirby, RHIA, as the 2021 HIPAA Compliance Champion. UAMS is fortunate to have Cara as HIM’s Data Integrity Manager. Not only is she dedicated to ensuring the integrity of our patients’ medical records, she genuinely cares about our patients and their families and is always willing to help in any way possible.

Cara and her team often collaborate with the HIPAA Office on patients’ requests for amendment and medical record corrections. She is always willing to pause what she is doing to assist with the issue at hand. Cara is experienced with privacy and confidentiality due to her background in Health Information Management. She practices these ethical principles in everything she does and educates others if given the opportunity. She has reported numerous incidents to the HIPAA Office suspecting a potential breach of protected health information and advised others to report.

2019 HIPAA Compliance Champion

Jim Clardy, MD

Dr. Jim Clardy, MD, Director, UAMS Center for Graduate Medical Education, Professor of Psychiatry, received the HIPAA Compliance Champion award in celebration of Corporate Compliance & Ethics Week, Nov. 2019.

The HIPAA Office very much appreciates Dr. Clardy’s leadership related to an investigation and resolution of a HIPAA violation involving a trainee who impermissibly accessed the medical records of patients and had no legitimate reason to do so. Following that incident, Dr. Clardy took it upon himself to share some HIPAA reminders at a meeting of Deans and Chairs of departments, explaining that there was a recent HIPAA violation that was a career-limiting event for a trainee.