Curing Common HIPAA & EHR Spelling Headaches

By Mike Semel

Sometimes as I am racing to type my thoughts down I type so fast that I make spelling errors like the one I warn everyone about—HIPPA instead of HIPAA. (I ask people what kind of HIPAA credibility they think we would have if we can’t even spell it correctly!) 

More annoying is when I spell acronyms like EHR for Electronic Health Records, and my spell checker ‘helps’ me (every stinking time!) by replacing it with HER. Recently I noticed several articles and informational pieces with HER instead of EHR, even on government websites. The proof readers missed correcting the ‘corrections.’ 

Here is how to take charge of your spell checker if you use Microsoft Office, Outlook for mail, or an iPhone or iPad.

To Automatically Replace HIPPA with HIPAA in Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint 

  1. In Word, under the File Menu select Options. 
  2. Select Proofing 
  3. Click on the Autocorrect Options button. 
  4. Half-way down you will see Replace Text as you Type. Enter HIPPA in the left box, and HIPAA in the right box. Click OK. 
  5. Back on the editor options screen Uncheck ‘Ignore UPPERCASE words’ and click OK. 
  6. Now every time you accidently type HIPPA it will autocorrect to HIPAA.

To Automatically Replace HIPPA with HIPAA on an iPhone or iPad 

  1. Go to Settings/General/Keyboard 
  2. Select Text Replacement 
  3. Hit the Plus Sign at the top 
  4. In the Phrase box type HIPAA 
  5. In the shortcut box type hipp 
  6. Save 
  7. Hit the Plus Sign at the top again 
  8. In the Phrase box type HIPAA 
  9. In the shortcut box type HIPPA 
  10. Save 

To test this, create an email and try to type HIPPA.

To Stop Autocorrecting EHR to HER 

  1. In Word type EHR, then move on and you will see it change to HER. 
  2. Move your cursor back over HER and you will see a blue bar appear under the word. 
  3. Move your cursor over the blue bar and a box with a down-arrow will appear. 
  4. Click the down-arrow and select ‘Stop Autocorrecting EHR.’ That’s it. 
  5. Now when you type EHR it will stay EHR. 

Hopefully this will reduce your stress so you can concentrate on what you are writing, and not as much
on the spelling.

 

Semel Consulting works with Covered Entities, Business Associates,
and Subcontractors to properly manage HIPAA compliance.

 

MIKE SEMEL  |  www.SemelConsulting.com

CMMC-AB Registered Practitioner  |  CompTIA Security Trustmark Coach  |  Certified Security Compliance Specialist
Certified Business Continuity Professional  |  Certified Health IT Consultant  |  Certified HIPAA Security Professional
Certified HIPAA Administrator  |  Certified HIPAA Professional  

 

About Mike Semel

 

Mike Semel is a noted thought leader, speaker, blogger, and best-selling author of HOW TO AVOID HIPAA HEADACHES. He is the President and Chief Security Officer of Semel Consulting, focused on HIPAA and other compliance requirements; cyber security; and Business Continuity planning. 

Mike is a Certified Business Continuity Professional through the Disaster Recovery Institute, a Certified HIPAA Professional, Certified Security Compliance Specialist, and Certified Health IT Specialist. 

He has owned or managed technology companies for over 30 years; served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for a hospital and a K-12 school district; and managed operations at an online backup company. 

 

MIKE SEMEL  |  www.SemelConsulting.com

CMMC-AB Registered Practitioner  |  CompTIA Security Trustmark Coach  |  Certified Security Compliance Specialist
Certified Business Continuity Professional  |  Certified Health IT Consultant  |  Certified HIPAA Security Professional
Certified HIPAA Administrator  |  Certified HIPAA Professional