When new technology is used in healthcare, new risks emerge, and this is typically how companies unwittingly expose their patients to risk. Essentially, a covered business must put in place security measures that enable greater the requisite protection levels in a reasonable and acceptable manner. A covered firm must also assess whether security methods and technologies are acceptable and normal for their business.
A smaller healthcare firm, for example, may not require the same level of endpoint security as a major health information exchange since it is likely to use a simpler system. Although cost is a significant consideration, it should not be the only one.
At work and at home, employees utilize their personal gadgets. Stakeholders are confused about how HIPAA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act) affects their business. There is a dearth of continual training for employees. New technologies are being applied in an ineffective manner.
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While each hazard is different, they can all result in HIPAA breaches. Businesses may hire specialists in a variety of roles, from consultants to full-service managed service providers, to help them stay HIPAA compliant.
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
HIPAA’s objectives include: safeguarding and managing protected health information (PHI)With the introduction of electronic health records (EHR), every medical organization must consider the junction of health data and security. Many of the physical measures, technology security, and organizational standards required to maintain compliance are outlined in the HIPAA Security Rule.
Pro Hint: Just because you employ a cloud-based EHR doesn’t imply you’re in compliance with HIPAA. While the EHR may be compliant in and of itself, there are numerous levels inside your business that need to be examined.
The HIPAA Security Rule has three primary rules that relate to technology:
To prevent access by those without credentials, any system that saves PHI must easily log out after a specific amount of time.
Anyone with access to PHI must have a distinctive login that can only be used once.
Encryption of PHI is required.
The potential for new technology to breach these regulations must be verified, but the hurry with which firms install new technology stymies the process. It’s critical to look at the prospect of using new technologies to acquire access to PHI. It’s worth engaging with MSPs to guarantee compliance if a healthcare practice or company that owns PHI data is unable to complete such an examination.
Security Risks Associated With New Technology
When new technology is employed in healthcare, new hazards develop, and this is frequently when organizations unknowingly present weakness to their patients. Using technology or software before it has been thoroughly vetted for security issues might result in HIPAA breaches by allowing hackers access to a normally protected system. In order to prevent these HIPAA breaches, Columbus IT support regularly beefs up security surrounding HIPAA documents.
Returning to our earlier examples of technology dangers, healthcare firms that enable their employees to work from home or have a bring your own device (BYOD) policy constitute a security risk. These personal gadgets might constitute a security risk if they are utilized to collect data from patients and connect with the healthcare provider’s EHR.
Security breaches can occur when medical workers or patients use personal devices at home and utilize secure channels in a healthcare facility. Many healthcare professionals have grown accustomed to utilizing their own gadgets in the workplace. They will use their smartphone to make calls, transfer papers, and communicate information. That information can be stolen once they leave their building’s secure network.
These aren’t just hypothetical scenarios. Every day, HIPAA breaches occur in this manner throughout the healthcare system.
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Taking Initiatives To Strengthen HIPAA Compliance Has Its Advantages
By poorly training their staff and technology, companies that fail to realize their technical flaws, as further explained here, can generate a cascade system failure that leads to recurrent breaches. Fortunately, there are several advantages to creating a better system.
Using facility-owned cellphones to streamline communications in a practice, for example, increases security and teamwork. The devices will not connect to dangerous, unprotected networks like mobile phones, and they may be used to exchange PHI with multiple stakeholders through a secure network. Communications will be safer, and the possibility of external network intrusions will be reduced.
A HIPAA compliance assessment is a wonderful place to start if you want to know how much work has to be done for your specific circumstance. Then, with the support of industry professionals — whether consultants or managed services providers — who are already familiar with HIPAA minutiae, you may go about finding the best, quickest approach to implement those modifications.