3/21/2022
Why Healthcare Technology NEEDS to be HIPAA Compliant
Security measures in place to ensure that Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) patient information remains confidential and secure at rest and during transit. Encryption is so important as it renders the data unreadable if ePHI is compromised.
The protection of information. HIPAA Rules are in place to safeguard (ePHI) and consist of:
- ePHI must be encrypted at rest and in transit.
- Access and share ePHI using a “Unique User Identifier” so it can be monitored.
- Automatic device signoffs are required to keep unauthorized persons from accessing ePHI.
- Messaging system must be HIPAA compliant before technology can be used to create, store, receive, or transmit ePHI.
- Secure File Transfer (FTP) must be used verses a generic file transfer to send and receive files.
Unfortunately, frequently used forms of communication are not HIPAA compliant including phone, email and online meetings, because copies of messages are left on respective servers and healthcare organizations have no control over it.
Specific areas that have benefitted from the introduction of technology to comply with HIPAA include:
- Simplified communication of ePHI between first responders using secure texting.
- Images, documents, and videos can be sent via secure text messages to remotely determine diagnoses.
- Secure texting can simplify hospital admissions and discharges – significantly reducing patient wait times.
HIPAA compliance is the law, for the health community, there is no choice. If rules aren’t adhered to, those that do not conform could face hefty fines and legal ramifications, hence why these protocols are so important to implement.
Protect yourself, business, and patient’s information at all times.
If you are in the healthcare industry and need expert advice on technology and HIPAA compliancy, please feel free to contact us, we are here to help. Regardless of if we do business or not, conversations with us lead to better informed decisions. Please call us at 508.375.6444.
