Are You Sure Your Healthcare Practice is HIPAA Compliant?

As a healthcare provider, you’re committed to providing quality patient care including privacy concerns and staying up to date with the latest HIPAA regulations. Designed to protect sensitive patient information, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets nationwide standards for digital healthcare networks and sharing electronic patient records. Failing to comply with these regulations can have serious consequences for your practice including hefty fines or even jail time for serious violations. And while you may think you haven’t overlooked anything, are you sure your healthcare practice is HIPAA compliant?

What Measures Are You Taking to Protect Your Patient’s Data?

While digitized operations and electronic medical records have made accessing patient information easier for doctors and caregivers, protecting sensitive information has never been more important. Healthcare is frequently becoming a target for hackers. In its 2019 Cybersecurity Survey, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society reports 82 percent of hospital information security leaders said they had experienced a “significant security incident” within the last year.  

With the increase in many practices relying on electronic sharing methods to access patient information, it’s become vitally important that emails, networks and other channels for sharing sensitive electronic protected health information (ePHI) are secure.

In order to prevent ePHI from being accessed by unauthorized users, HIPAA requires that physical and technical safeguards are in place to control who can access sensitive information. Do you have policies in place as to who has access to work stations and electronic media? Do you follow the necessary guidelines and restrictions for transferring, disposing and reusing electronic media and ePHI?

While automatic log off, information encryption and decryption, as well as tracking logs are some of the technical requirements necessary to stay compliant with HIPAA, additional cybersecurity measures may need to be evaluated to make sure your practice is protected. Do you back up your data offsite? Do you have an IT recovery plan in place? What steps do you take to make sure ePHI isn’t altered or destroyed? Is your network software up to date? If you’re not sure, it’s important to find out as you may find your safeguards aren’t as safe as you think.

Protect Your Practice and Meet Requirements with Help from CMIT Solutions

Staying up to date on the latest rules and regulations is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. We understand the unique challenges you face and we’re here to help. Whether it’s assessing your network and identifying risks or implementing HIPAA compliant multilayered cybersecurity, our experts will build your practice a network that balances security with accessibility while meeting the necessary guidelines. So if you’re ready to focus on providing quality care instead of worrying about regulations, contact CMIT Solutions of Cary-Apex today.

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