With the world getting more digitally connected by the day, we have entered into an age of data economy where true company value lies in the collected customer data. Healthcare is one such industry that handles a baffling amount of sensitive patient data on a daily basis. There are several data privacy law initiatives and data protection regulations that are accelerating the change in the way companies and individuals are recognizing the value and importance of protecting user data. Stringent data protection regulations across the world require organizations to ensure adequate privacy of sensitive data.
One such data privacy regulation that the healthcare industry must adhere to is HIPPA compliance. With the ongoing digital transformation in the healthcare sector, the demand for a federally compliant infrastructure to process and store electronically protected health information (ePHI) that is protected by the HIPAA is on the rise as well. Today’s healthcare businesses aspire to be technologically advanced and digital with rapid cloud adoption. But at the same time, they must ensure that patient health information is protected by meeting the HIPAA compliance. But what exactly is HIPAA and how can the healthcare industry ensure better HIPAA compliance?
The Need for HIPAA
HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal law, passed in 1996, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). It sets out new information privacy standards for the protection of medical records and other personal health information. HIPAA established data security and privacy requirements for the storing and processing of protected health information (PHI and e-PHI).
According to this, the entities that are subject to HIPAA must implement a set of technical, administrative, and physical controls which are designed to secure this protected health information. The health information can include vaccine records, X-rays, lab results, and the patient’s past and current treatment data. The main aim of HIPPA is to secure and modernize the flow of healthcare information and assure that the medical data and records are adequately protected from any kind of misuse or theft. For companies operating in the healthcare ecosystem that handles sensitive patient data, HIPAA compliance is absolutely crucial and there are steep punishments for businesses that are found non-compliant. The penalty for a single violation for non-compliance can reach up to $50,000 based on the level of negligence. Additionally, a maximum penalty of $1.5 million per year can be assessed for violations of an identical provision. As you can see, these penalties could even shut your doors permanently.
From the business perspective, protecting personal data and putting an emphasis on data privacy can have multiple positive impacts on the organization. So, healthcare institutions can achieve competitive advantages in the form of higher quality of data, improves customer experience, and greater investor appeal and brand.
HIPAA compliance in the COVID-19 Landscape
The Healthcare industry is one of the main industries that is undoubtedly set to change the most over the next few years in the wake of COVID-19. As much as it is difficult to handle the spread of the virus, maintaining privacy compliance in this crucial time is also more difficult. With the increase in the adoption of telehealth visits, there is a need to maintain proper data protection practices over the internet. Also, as patients visit multiple doctors and healthcare professionals in this coronavirus period, a huge volume of patient data is moving in and out at a faster pace, which leaves for more security risks. Moreover, with the increased patient counts across the whole world combined with the chaotic hospital visit schedules, there is a grave opportunity for HIPAA compliance mistakes.
Intone as your IT partner
At Intone, we help businesses that collect healthcare data stop worrying about HIPPA compliance. Our committed professionals provide solutions to optimize the business through digitization and operational transformation and technology and combine real-world experience, clinical and business insights, and new, enabling intelligent technologies and solutions to deliver the power of Insight and a world-class and dynamic Solution Driven Health practice. From analytics and predictive modeling to CRM, cloud, and infrastructure management to financial transformation and compliance, we provide holistic solutions to the Health industry. With our proven solutions, we take the risk and confusion out of building an effective and compliant security program. Here is how we do it:
- Gap and risk assessment: Intone assess your current security environment against HIPAA requirements to identify areas that need to be addressed for compliance.
- Compliance Implementation: We help you build a comprehensive HIPAA compliance program to integrate the right policies and processes leaving no room for error.
- Training and awareness: We also help you establish training and awareness programs to keep your employees updated on the recent healthcare-related data security threats.
- Support: Our professional team will help you in managing, maintenance and support throughout the whole process.
At Intone, we don’t just help you meet the regulatory requirements for the sake of compliance, we help you build a solid security program and strategy that you can adapt to. With Intone’s HIPAA compliant solutions, you gain the speed, flexibility, and features to deliver new services that can help you keep pace with the rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. Let us help you deliver more efficient, effective, and affordable healthcare.