Imagine the process of HIPAA management in an average healthcare organization. What problems or points can you admit? We’re sure that most of you can think that HIPAA management is dozens of bureaucracy and unnecessary work. But we are here to prove to you that it is a myth. The process of HIPAA compliance management might be a piece of cake if you choose the right software to automize this process.
A huge part of HIPAA management is compliance monitoring. But the good news is that it is one of the processes that can be automated. So, picking the best matching HIPAA compliance monitoring software can help your organization keep up with efficient, compliant processes to meet your requirements. But the question is how to choose the right one? We’re going to find it out in this article!
Introduction to the HIPAA Compliance Software
As you may know, to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, you need to comply with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules primarily. Therefore, compliance with these rules and at least basic knowledge of their nuances will considerably assist you in setting an efficient compliance program for your organization.
In short, HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules regulate the usage and disclosing of protected health information (PHI) by setting benchmarks. PHI is a type of information containing demographic data about a particular patient. For example, it includes name, address, information about medical insurance, Social Security number, etc. It also may involve some health records and information about treatments.
What Should HIPAA Compliance Software Cover?
According to the information given below, it has not been difficult to conclude what HIPAA compliance software should cover. But in addition, the compliance software has to keep up with the following HIPAA regulations:
- The Privacy Rule. The main point of this rule is that it regulates patients’ access to their protected health information (PHI);
- The Security Rule. It provides safeguards for healthcare organizations to implement to maintain their data security.
- The Breach Notification Rule. It defines the situations when healthcare organizations and providers should send notifications about data breaches to their clients. Also, it guides on the way how to send those alerts.
- The Omnibus Rule. This rule establishes conditions for signing business associate agreements (BAA) and the performance of both sides.
It may seem easy at first sight, but it’s important to remember that each rule contains many requirements for healthcare organizations. They should carry out all these demands to be HIPAA-compliant. Otherwise, they will get enormous penalties for violations and non-compliance.
Considering all these facts, it’s evident that one or a couple of team members can’t cope with these demands. So, it makes sense to automatize some of the compliance processes. The best solution is to use compliance tools, such as HIPAA compliance monitoring software. Find out what this software can help you with below.
What is HIPAA Compliance Monitoring Software?
In general, HIPAA compliance monitoring software is a system that should help healthcare organizations set and maintain compliance processes and procedures. In addition, it should show evidence of its efficiency and let the organization take part in its HIPAA compliance process.
Also, there is a list of elements to apply to the efficient compliance program. The Department of Health and Human Services published recommendations that healthcare organizations adjust to their environments. According to the key seven elements mentioned in the guidance, covered businesses must:
- Keep up with HIPAA requirements and adopt relevant policies.
- Assign HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers and, if necessary, create a committee.
- Provide appropriate training and education for the workforce.
- Maintain transparent and efficient interaction and information.
- Manage in-house monitoring and audits.
- Ensure that the workforce is aware of all processes and benchmarks to perform operations effectively.
- Respond to threats and violations at once and undertake proper measures to eliminate them.
What Should HIPAA Compliance Monitoring Software Include?
While selecting the proper HIPAA compliance monitoring software, it is essential to know about the aspects of compliance it may cover and the functions it may perform. But, of course, it’s all individually, as every healthcare organization or provider has its requirements.
But suppose we are talking about the standard platform that will match any needs. In that case, this type of software should provide a possibility of managing compliance to any participant of the program who has internet connectivity. It should range from the covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs) to managed service providers (MSPs) and their clients. HIPAA compliance monitoring software should fully adjust the compliance program to all organization’s demands. In addition, it should provide complete support in conducting audits. Among other necessary features of the standard HIPAA compliance monitoring software are:
Availability of Self Audit Feature
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, there is a demand for CEs to conduct six self-checks annually when BAs should carry out five of them. Therefore, this estimation procedure proves that a healthcare organization keeps up with the HIPAA requirements.
Loopholes Detection and Elimination
This feature usually goes with the previous one, as self-audits reveal your compliance program’s available problems and loopholes. In its turn, the HIPAA compliance monitoring software must eliminate those loopholes by generating a recovery plan.
Establishment of Standards and Workforce Education Conduction
Every HIPAA-compliant healthcare organization must implement protected health information (PHI) use and disclosure standards. Also, organizations must adjust those standards to their working processes and review them each year. Thus, informing the workforce about any update or change is necessary to avoid severe violations. So, HIPAA compliance monitoring software can assist in conducting and tracking your team’s education. Employees can verify that they are aware of the updates in policies directly in their accounts. Also, the software can help you conduct the annual workforce training.
BAs Control
HIPAA compliance monitoring software can also include the compliance management features of the business associates (BAs). For example, it might be organized in the form of a survey to estimate their compliance. This method reveals loopholes in the BAs’ adhering to the HIPAA rules. The software may also suggest recovery plans adjusted to business associates (BAs).
BAs compliance management also involves signing the business associate agreement (BAA). This contract establishes PHI privacy and security standards for business associates (BAs). Additionally, the agreement defines the spheres of responsibility for each party. Therefore, every contract holder should manage their compliance themselves. Also, BAA represents the responsible side for maintaining breach notification duties.
Management of HIPAA Violation Cases
Cases of data breaches and HIPAA violations have increased since the pandemic occurred. Thus, each covered organization or healthcare provider tends to better their safeguards and eliminate security gaps. So, it’s crucial for HIPAA compliance monitoring software to include functionality to manage breaches or violation cases. In addition, under the HIPAA, the workforce has to be capable of notifying about the incidents anonymously. Therefore, it is one more feature a standard compliance monitoring software should involve.
Selecting the Best HIPAA Compliance Monitoring Software
As mentioned before, it is all individually to every healthcare organization. However, you can imagine what a standard HIPAA compliance monitoring software should appear from now. But we also have an excellent tip for you. Here you can find a list of compliance software and HIPAA-compliant monitoring to look through, compare and choose. The algorithm is straightforward. You can click on any software and find information about its functionality, cons, pros, and reviews from users and our team. So simple.
What Type of HIPAA Compliance Monitoring Software is Vital to Avoid?
We also would like to add a bit about the HIPAA compliance monitoring software you should avoid to keep your PHI safe and secure. But it also concerns all software that provides every type of service of HIPAA compliance.
Choosing a compliance software, you may have seen proposals to get HIPAA certification for pennies. It looks attractive, but in the end, it may influence your organization’s reputation a lot, especially if a passing grade is lower than 100%. For example, you might be 80% HIPAA-compliant, and it might seem a lot, but for others, you are 20% non-compliant.
Conclusions
This article has found out what HIPAA compliance monitoring software is and its purpose. Every healthcare organization and provider has individual requirements for compliance. But the standard compliancy monitoring software should involve quite a comprehensive functionality that will meet all business needs. This type of software should adhere to all HIPAA rules and regulations. It should also include self-auditing features, management of business associates (BAs) and cases of incidents, workforce informing and education, etc.
Also, don’t forget to use quality software. Avoid attractive cheap propositions, as they may harm your reputation in the healthcare field. Remember that the most affordable solution might not give you a ticket to the prosperous future of your company. In the majority of cases, it works in the reverse direction. So, don’t forget to choose the quality software for your business goals. It is way easier to do with HIPAA Software Categories!
Still, have questions about HIPAA compliance monitoring software? Feel free to contact us!
