Health information stored by your medical organization is protected by a number of regulatory standards. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, regulates how you need to protect this sensitive information. Learn more about how to be HIPAA compliant and how a leading IT company can offer your organization the best in encryption and data protection.
HIPAA Compliance
Before reviewing your organization’s HIPAA compliance obligations, it’s important to understand why health information is protected. If stolen or compromised, this information can be used to identify any of your clients or patients. If you’re required to follow HIPAA regulations but don’t, there could be serious repercussions
Why Is Compliance Important?
These regulations are designed to protect your patients or clients from identity theft and other issues related to leaked personal information. If you aren’t found to be compliant, you could face a HIPAA violation.
Violations are the result of a serious breach in information privacy and protection and come with serious fines. In some cases, violations can come with multi-million dollar fines and up to 10 years in jail.
How To Become HIPAA Compliant
Avoid violations and protect your clients with administrative, physical, and technical support. Use the official compliance checklist to look for technical safeguards that will help create a compliant organizational strategy.
Here are some mechanisms to promote HIPAA compliance:
- Activity logs and audit controls
- Access control
- Encryption and decryption tools
- Authentication of stored information
These solutions can be developed and implemented within your organization, or you can work with an experienced IT company who understands HIPAA laws and regulations.
What Organizations Need To Be Compliant?
Any applicable entity needs to comply with these laws and regulations for storing and protecting client or patient information. Hospitals, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plan providers are all required to be HIPAA compliant, and a quick internet search will tell you if you need to be compliant, too.
How Can an IT Company Improve Compliance?
There are many standards to review and solutions to employ in order to maintain compliance in your organization. At Axiom, we help you navigate security rule and other features of HIPAA to protect your organization.
Work with us to create a plan that provides the safeguards you need. Administrative policies show how you can comply with HIPAA. Physical mechanisms include physical access restriction of data storage areas. Technical support monitors and protects your networks as you transmit personal health information from device to device.
Here are a few ways Axiom helps your organization comply with the act:
- Remediation plans for uncovered gaps in security
- Annual self audit to review security and privacy standards and current compliance
- Management of business associate agreements for proper personal health information handling
- Employee training, policy updates and procedure monitoring to keep in line with current standards
- Thorough data breach incident management
- Detailed documentation to comply with the 6 year requirement
Don’t let a data breach or lack of encryption put your organization’s health information protection at risk. Contact Axiom for full data protection and encryption services.
Take the next step in HIPAA compliance with Axiom. Invest your resources in providing excellent health services while a leading IT company provides you with the security and compliance your organization needs and your clients deserve.