A Quick Guide to HIPAA Healthcare Communication

Communication in Healthcare has been improved greatly with the long-lasting impacts of COVID-19. During that period, the creation and adoption of different communication methods and alternatives were observed in the healthcare industry. An HHS study from December 2021 also reveals the same. It showcases the increased usage of telehealth among medicare patients. From 840000 patients in 2019 to 52.7 million in 2020, the Medicare patients count increased by 63 percent. And keeps on growing by leaps and bounds in the following years.

Concerning such great usage of telehealth and telemedicine services for delivering Healthcare to remote patients, it becomes necessary to safeguard patient health information while in use electronically. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) takes care of this responsibility effectively while managing uninterrupted communication in such a huge healthcare network.

Therefore, healthcare providers must communicate with and deliver Healthcare in compliance with HIPAA.

Benefits of HIPAA-compliant communication in Healthcare:

• Protection against PHI loss
• Increased awareness of patient well-being
• Development of patient safety culture
• Improved satisfaction scores from families and patients alike
• liability reduction for your organization and executives

HIPAA Compliant Communication in Healthcare: The Essentials

A few general things need to be followed in terms of providing HIPAA-compliant communication in Healthcare.

Multifaceted Authentication (MFA) on ALL gadgets – MFA should be available on any work areas, PCs, cell phones, or gadgets that can get to, send, or store ePHI.

Full encryption on the way and very still – All satisfied and communicated correspondences should be completely scrambled on the way (default RC4-128 encryption) and very still (256-bit AES encryption) inside the server farms.

Downstream BAA consistence – All merchants should be HIPAA agreeable and have gotten BAAs with downstream subcontractors and outsider sellers. Continue reading.