Nowadays, remote work is becoming more and more widespread. The working management of the health care sector was influenced as well. It is primarily determined by Covid-19 pandemia, but many people continue to prefer the service of home health care providers. Telehealth is a convenient and valuable way to get medical aid for patients who are enabled to pay a visit to hospitals because of different reasons. However, there are plenty of challenges with data privacy and HIPAA compliance. Home health care providers must protect the PHI and follow all general rules to prevent violations.
It is much harder to maintain HIPAA compliance for home health care providers. Managers cannot monitor all accessible information and people who can view it. You definitely need to have up-to-date telehealth software if your team works remotely. Data breaches occur very often because of a lack of protection. Nowadays, hackers know plenty of ways how to overcome difficult passwords. Patients will not be satisfied with your service in case of threats to their privacy. There is a need to protect the PHI and stay HIPAA compliant.
Are Home Health Care Providers Responsible For HIPAA Maintenance?
Each medical professional is responsible for HIPAA maintenance as data protection requires strong technical equipment and knowledge of health care workers. The Covered Entity has a strong privacy policy of protecting health information. It includes passwords, two-factor authentication, and even posts on social media. The brick hospital or home health care provider, your organization needs to have high-quality data storage management. All members of the workforce, that deal with the Covered Entities, take responsibility for keeping the PHI in accordance with HIPAA requirements. Even if the “workers” are volunteers, they must follow the data access rules. Volunteers are also considered to be members of a Covered Entities workforce.
Three Practical Tips For HIPAA Compliance
If you want to avoid HIPAA violations and fines, it is better to check out your compliance regularly. Sometimes only one mistake may cost an organization hundreds of dollars to fix the situation. There are three handy tips that have become a must-have in the world of cyber protection.
#1 Prevent Unauthorized Access To Patient Information
The main rule is to keep an eye on people who can access protected health information. Home health care providers are more likely to face data breaches. It is extremely important to share the vulnerable information with the appropriate staff only. You need to assign specific roles and duties in your organization. You can give access to patient data only if it is necessary for particular positions or members of the workforce. For example, it is a good idea to utilize the dashboard which only shows doctors and nurses the information about only their patients. This way will significantly lessen the likelihood of HIPAA violations. You should also make up strong passwords to access the system that is used by the staff in your organization. The more characters, the more cybersecurity you have. It is possible to add numbers, symbols, capital, and lowercase letters.
#2 Strongly Protect Your Devices
Your protected devices are the cornerstones of your cybersecurity. It is compulsory to protect them as they contain a lot of sensitive information. It would be better if you took care of your computer, phones, iPads/tablets, as well as USB drives. By conducting regular risk assessments, you will prevent violations and avoid large fines. There is an overview of great HIPAA compliant software for telehealth services. The best practice is to have a separate device that you will use solely for work purposes. However, the loss and theft of such devices are also considered to be a violation of HIPAA. It requires you to be extremely careful at all times you deal with the PHI.
#3 Educate Your Staff on HIPAA Requirements
The last tip is the same important as the previous ones. You should educate your employers on HIPAA requirements and cybersecurity rules. If only leads are aware of how to protect the PHI, it is not enough to stay secure. Each member of the workforce is responsible for sensitive information and needs to know how to stay safe. Even a small mistake can cost a lot of money and the trust of your patients. Home health care providers must have a strong privacy policy too. It maintains HIPAA compliance and helps to avoid violations. You can train your staff to improve the quality of your health care service.
Best HIPAA Compliant Telehealth Software
HIPAA compliant telehealth software is another cornerstone for home health care providers. There is a wide range of useful software on the market. You have to understand what features you need to work conveniently and safely. You can find below five great platforms for remote workers in the health care sector.
Healthie is a modern web and mobile platform for dietitians, nutritionists, health coaches, and other wellness professionals. It is a comprehensive tool for practice management and telehealth and includes core business features: scheduling, billing (out-of-pocket and insurance), charting (intake forms, e-signature, and note-templates), document sharing, secure messaging, as well as client food logging. Moreover, this software is compliant with HIPAA regulations and protects data in compliance with PIPEDA.
ExamMed offers a customizable modular approach to your telehealth success. Each module focuses on specific functionalities and integration requirements. Scaling your user experience by linking your brick and click. It is an award-winning and nationally recognized company, that equips doctors with innovative virtual healthcare technology to treat patients remotely through an easy-to-use, HIPAA-compliant video-enabled platform. The platform quickly enables reimbursable video visits, has patient scheduling and messaging capabilities (asynchronous encounters), and offers interoperable EMR/EHR integration.
HIPAA One is software with automated security risk assessment capabilities. Its services allow healthcare clients to focus on their important objectives: core competencies, improving compliance, and reducing operating costs. So, users are able to create a complete security and compliance offering from a single vendor. The solution is a cloud-based compliance software suite designed to simplify and automate HIPAA compliance.
MedBridge is an easy-to-use platform integrated with industry-leading clinical, professional development, and compliance courses. It helps managers and administrators save time with automated assigning, reporting, and tracking supports custom content uploading and integrates with HR systems for easy data sync and single sign-on. The software is a blend of content and software solutions. It provides a seamless service that uniquely addresses the needs of both professionals and their patients. Partnering with industry experts, MedBridge delivers the highest-quality education on a platform optimized for adult learning.
pMD is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth solution that provides unlimited video meeting capabilities to streamline workflows and engage patients. It easily integrates with existing systems and clinical workflows. Automated patient enrollment, appointment reminders, and 24/7 live support ensure patients are ready to hit the ground running for their virtual visits. When virtual communication is seamless, providers can focus on what matters most – providing the best patient care.
Conclusions
So, home health care providers definitely should maintain HIPAA compliance in order to keep the PHI safe. If you use up-to-date software and follow all HIPAA requirements, it will reduce the chances of violation or even data fraud. Breaches have become a nightmare for many health care providers. It is necessary to train your staff and monitor all channels with sensitive patient information. Check out our blog and stay on top of HIPAA compliance!
