ChiroFEST 2025:
Thank You, Vancouver!

What a week in the Pacific Northwest! Team VRC had an incredible time at ChiroFEST 2025 in Vancouver, WA (Sept 18–20)—meeting clinic owners, teams, and partners who care deeply about patient trust. We loved the conversations on HIPAA, cybersecurity, and practical clinic workflows that keep front desks humming and PHI protected. Huge thanks to every chiropractic clinic that stopped by our booth to chat, introduce VRC1, and snag some swag—you brought the energy!

We’re grateful for the warm PNW welcome and the chance to help clinics turn compliance into a competitive advantage. If we connected at the show or if we missed you, let’s keep the momentum going.

Compliance Matters for Chiropractors

Chiropractic clinics handle real PHI every hour—intake, imaging referrals, billing, eligibility checks, and patient messaging. That makes most practices HIPAA-covered providers and puts them squarely in the path of modern risks: vendor breaches, email compromise, and right-of-access enforcement. The data below isn’t abstract—it’s the day-to-day reality for small and mid-size clinics where lean teams juggle care delivery and operations.

1. Chiropractors are HIPAA-covered entities.
If you transmit claims or other covered transactions electronically (which most practices do), you are a HIPAA covered health care provider—full stop.

2. Chiropractic care touches a large share of U.S. adults.
In 2022, 11.0% of U.S. adults received chiropractic care (NHIS/NCCIH). That’s a lot of PHI to protect in this specialty alone.

3. It’s a small-practice specialty—exactly where attackers and auditors bite.
There are ~41,480 employed chiropractors in the U.S., and most work in solo or small group practices—settings that often have lean IT and compliance resources.

4. The Change Healthcare cyberattack shows third-party risk is real for chiropractors.
HHS says the Change Healthcare incident impacted ~192.7 million individuals. Reuters notes Change processes around half of all U.S. medical claims—so billing slowdowns and data exposure can hit chiropractic clinics directly.

5. Breaches are expensive and disruptive for clinics.
IBM’s 2025 study (summarized by HIPAA Journal) puts the average U.S. healthcare breach at $7.42M, with healthcare still the costliest industry; average time to identify/contain was 279 days—weeks longer than the global average.

6. Business associates now drive a huge share of exposed PHI.
In 2023, breaches at business associates exposed 93M records vs. 34.9M at providers; in 2024, BAs accounted for about two-thirds of breached records. Vet your vendors and keep up-to-date BAAs.

7. 2024 was the year of “mega-breaches” in health care.
Just 14 incidents exposed 237.9M records (nearly 70% of the U.S. population). Most were hacking incidents; over half involved business associates—think EHRs, RCM, imaging, clearinghouses.

8. Patient Right-of-Access enforcement is still hot—small offices frequently get hit.
OCR’s Right of Access Initiative had reached 53 actions by March 2025. Delays or hurdles in providing records (30-day rule) are low-hanging enforcement targets.

Bottom Line

Compliance isn’t a binder; it’s how your front desk, clinicians, billing, and vendors handle PHI consistently, every day. Clinics that make HIPAA visible and practical earn patient trust, sail through payer and referral reviews, and bounce back faster when incidents happen. That’s not just risk reduction—it’s business momentum.

HIPAA Compliance Belongs at the Heart of
Every Chiropractic Clinic

Protect PHI. Earn trust. Win referrals. Grow with confidence.

If your clinic touches electronic patient information for billing, eligibility, referrals, imaging, or EHR—you’re a HIPAA Covered Entity. That’s not a burden; it’s an opportunity. When HIPAA is part of how your team schedules, documents, and communicates, you protect patients and strengthen your reputation with payers, partners, and the community.

HIPAA is not “extra”—it’s core to running a modern clinic

Busy days, shared workstations, multiple vendors, and constant patient messages make chiropractic workflows efficient—but also exposed. HIPAA isn’t a binder on a shelf; it’s how your front desk, providers, and billing team handle PHI every hour.

Why clinics that invest in compliance grow faster:

• Trust that converts: Patients choose providers who protect their information. A visible HIPAA posture turns first visits into long-term relationships.

• Referral-friendly: Primary care, imaging centers, and specialists prefer clinics with clean processes and current BAAs.

• Payer confidence: Insurers and networks look for practices that reduce risk. Fewer exceptions = smoother credentialing and renewals.

• Less disruption: When email or EHR issues happen, a trained team recovers quickly and keeps the schedule on track.

The Highest-Risk Workflows (and the fast fixes)

A few small changes eliminate most clinic exposures without slowing the day.

• Front desk intake & scanning

  • Risks: screen peeking, printouts left behind, unlocked PCs

  • Fixes: privacy screens, 5-minute auto-lock, “clean counter” rule, scan-to-secure folder only

• Patient messaging (email/SMS/portals)

  • Risks: PHI in open email, wrong recipients, unclear approvals

  • Fixes: standard no-PHI templates, verified contacts, portal-first policy, “Report Phish” button

• EHR on shared workstations

  • Risks: shared logins, saved passwords, lingering sessions

  • Fixes: unique accounts, MFA, no saved creds, end-of-day sign-out sweep

• Imaging & referral exchanges

  • Risks: fax-to-email exposure, CDs/USBs, unvetted portals

  • Fixes: approved secure exchange only, referral checklist, BAAs on file, verify before sending

• Billing & collections (and TAS partners)

  • Risks: vendor mishandling PHI, off-script calls, stored card data (PCI risk)

  • Fixes: hardened call scripts, vendor attestations/BAAs, least-privilege access, PCI basics

The “Clinic-Ready” HIPAA Program (lightweight, real, repeatable)

Start simple. Keep it working. Show proof.

• Policies that match reality: short, role-based SOPs for intake, messaging, EHR access, imaging, and billing

• Annual training with refreshers: HIPAA General, HIPAA for Operators (front desk/TAS), Cybersecurity

• Access & device basics: MFA for EHR and email; auto-lock; no shared passwords; end-of-day sign-out

• Vendor oversight: current BAAs, data-handling commitments (no training on your data, retention limits), breach notice windows

• Evidence you can show: training certs, access reviews, restore test dates, policy acknowledgments—kept in one place

Proof Patients and Partners Can See

• Privacy Notice posted and consistent with your practices

• Secure messaging defaults (portal-first) and clear phone/email scripts

• Visible discipline: unique logins, quick lock screens, “we don’t email PHI” culture

• Clean referral handoffs: approved channels, verification steps, updated BAAs

Why Clinics Trust VanRein Compliance

You don’t need a bigger binder—you need a program your team will actually follow on a busy day.

• Clinic Hardening: MFA, auto-locks, privacy screens, secure messaging templates, BAA review, restore test—with screenshots and evidence stored in VRC1

• Training tracks: HIPAA General, HIPAA for Operators (for front desk), HIPAA for Compliance Officers, Cybersecurity—with group management so leaders can assign and track completion

• Tabletop exercises: disaster recovery and cybersecurity exercises to evaluate your clinic’s ability to detect, respond to, and recover from real-world incidents

• Vendor governance kit: BAAs and practical AI/data-handling commitments (retention, region, “no training on your data,” breach SLAs)

• Ongoing cadence: monthly access checks, quarterly evidence tidy-ups, semiannual BCP/DR drills—managed in VRC1 so reviews and renewals are easy

Conclusion

Chiropractic practices win on trust. HIPAA done well protects your patients, keeps your schedule moving, and signals professionalism to referrers, payers, and partners. Make compliance part of the way your clinic works—simple, visible, and reliable—and you’ll feel the difference in patient confidence and business momentum.

📅 ChiroFEST Special: Book a Discovery Call now to identify your top three workflow risks and quick wins. We’ll follow with a right-sized plan—training, clinic hardening, and vendor cleanup—so you’re secure, compliant, and patient-ready.