HIPAA Compliance in the Changing World of Healthcare
Posted on: August 10th, 2021 07:39 pm
Updated on: April 20th, 2022 12:01 am
A Changing World of Health Care
The health care and HIPAA landscape have changed dramatically since the beginning of 2020. Reliance on telehealth and telecommuting has put practices at further risk for security breaches. Cyber Threats (Ransomware, Email Phishing, etc.) are increasing and becoming more successful. These are just a few of the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health care world, and amendments to HIPAA Laws are a possibility, especially to help address security issues that arise following these unprecedented times.
Regardless of the size of your practice or facility, your organization will benefit from HIPAA Compliance. HIPAA Compliance helps address security issues before they happen. Multi-factor authentication, encryption, and telework preparation are all security measures that will help your organization prevent breaches. The future of healthcare is moving in a technological direction, and these security safeguards are essential; perhaps now more than ever.
Preparing for an Audit
A security risk assessment will help determine where your organization is most vulnerable and will prepare you to pass a HIPAA audit. State-of-the-art software and certified professionals are available to you to ensure you achieve and maintain HIPAA compliance. This process has been streamlined to make things easy for you. You could do it on your own, or you could utilize software and auditors to do it for you! Preparing for your audit doesn’t need to be a stressful and laborious experience.
Benefits Beyond Just Passing Your Audit
While the ultimate goal of HIPAA compliance is to prepare to complete an audit, additional benefits of being committed to HIPAA compliance include:
- Creating a Culture of Compliance where appropriate handling of PHI and ePHI is a priority.
- Increasing organizational reputation that will build trust and patient loyalty.
- Improved training within the organization, which will allow employees to understand what is expected of them. This creates happier employees and a happier organization overall.
- Increased data and ePHI security, preventing breaches and HIPAA enforcement.
- Avoiding large fees and other costly penalties.
All of these benefits and more lead to increased efficiency and profitability. HIPAA compliance is more crucial than ever for the security of your organization, so don’t wait for the deadline! If you are unsure where to begin when it comes to HIPAA compliance, talk to a member of our team today.