With HIPAA, sensitive patient information cannot be disclosed without the patient’s knowledge or consent. As many healthcare businesses move to electronic health records, patient records can be more at risk of security breaches; professionals and businesses can violate HIPAA because of security failures and compliance oversights. Information technology (IT) plays a significant role in healthcare companies and how they maintain HIPAA compliance.
HIPAA Guidelines Explained
HIPAA has three main rules: the privacy rule, the security rule, and the breach notification rule.
HIPAA Privacy Rule
The privacy rule restricts public usage of protected health information. Those covered by HIPAA include health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers.
HIPAA Security Rule
The security rule requires that businesses take five steps to ensure that their patient health information and records are secure.
- Ensure information is secure
- Protect against improper uses and disclosures of data
- Protect information against potential threats
- Train employees so they are aware of compliance factors
- Adapt the policies and procedures to meet the updated security rule
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule
If and when there is a data breach within your health organization, the Department of Health and Human Services must be notified within 60 days of its discovery. When a breach affects more than 500 patients in a specific jurisdiction, the media should be alerted.
How Managed IT Solutions Help with HIPAA Compliance
Managed information technology solutions will help healthcare businesses maintain HIPAA compliance by offering technical policies and procedures like encryption, audit controls, and authentication policies.
Provides Data Encryption
Managed IT service providers can implement advanced encryption across IT networks. This will protect your healthcare organization’s patient data as it converts all information into code. These services can also enforce access controls through role-based permissions, multi-factor authentication, biometrics, secure remote access, password managers, and more.
Overcomes Compliance Challenges
A managed IT team can run compliance and security assessments to ensure that sensitive patient data and information are safe. In a cyber audit and assessment, specialists will find risks or vulnerable areas within your IT infrastructure and create a plan to ensure information stays safe and protected moving forward.
24/7 Monitoring & Incident Response
Managed IT services will strictly monitor your organization’s IT so that in the chance of a security threat or cyberattack, they will quickly respond. This kind of proactive monitoring helps healthcare providers put trust in their IT departments that patient information will stay safe.
How Machado Offers IT Solutions
Machado offers a fully experienced team that provides uninterrupted care, bulletproof security, and healthcare regulatory compliance. We understand that cyberattacks put patient records at risk. Our IT services will give tailored IT solutions for your healthcare organization, certified expertise, and 24/7 monitoring.
Learn more about Machado’s Healthcare IT services and sign up for a free cybersecurity audit to get started.
