The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a mandate developed by the US government to ensure that healthcare information and coverage are protected for all Americans. It was signed by former President Bill Clinton and enacted in 1996.
What is HIPAA?
The act has five divisions, which are called titles. Title I protects the healthcare coverage of workers and their dependents if they resign or are fired from their jobs. Meanwhile, Title II focuses on the creation of national standards for digital healthcare transactions, which includes the development of standardized identifiers for insurance plans, providers, and employers.
Title III contains the rules for pre-tax medical spending accounts, while Title IV encompasses the guidelines for group health packages. Lastly, Title V regulates life insurance policies owned by corporations and companies.
Who Needs to be HIPAA Compliant?
Healthcare providers, such as doctors, clinics, nursing homes, and pharmacies, must ensure that their policies and processes are HIPAA compliant. Health insurance companies and healthcare clearinghouses must also fulfill the guidelines in the act.
Basically, everyone who handles patient information must abide by the provisions of this mandate. Aside from illegal implications, failure to follow these regulations can heighten the risk of cybercriminals stealing the personal data of your clients and destroy your credibility as a healthcare provider or insurance company.
HIPAA Compliance Guidelines and Checklist
Here are the things you should do to be HIPAA compliant:
1. Audit and Assess Existing Policies and Processes
According to this HIPAA Compliance Guide, the first thing you should do is to examine your organization’s current practices on the handling of patients’ health information. You must thoroughly evaluate the policies and processes in your company, from security standards to the risks involved. Moreover, you should also audit your physical site, like your clinic or office, to check for weaknesses in data management.
Patient data can be stored and shared three forms: electronic, written, or oral. Protected health information (PHI) includes:
- Basic Details – This component encompasses the patient’s name, address, and birth date. It can also encompass their Social Security number.
- Health Status – The PHI contains the current physical and mental health condition of the patient, which must be protected because of its sensitive nature.
- Medical History – You should also be cautious about the list of care provided to the patient.
- Payment Information – Lastly, payment details must be kept between the healthcare provider and client because it may still be used to identify the individual.
2. Document and Resolve Vulnerabilities
The next step to becoming HIPAA compliant is to report any weaknesses and susceptibilities that you find in your policies and processes. You can then enlist the help of companies like Medicus IT to come up with resolutions to cybersecurity issues.
They’ve specifically developed tools for healthcare organizations to protect data from breaches because this industry is a primary target of ransomware attacks. You must also conduct a HIPAA compliance training for your employees to inform them about the act and what they can do to uphold its regulations.
3. Prepare Contingency Plans for Emergencies
Your organization should develop a clear action plan when it comes to data breaches. Snooping and unwitting employees not only risk the disclosure of patient information, but they also endanger your company’s reputation.
Set up contingency plans on how to discipline staff who poke their nose into other people’s business, particularly for patients that aren’t under their watch. You also have to develop a way to recover lost data, whether physical or digital.
4. Control Access to Information
Another way to protect patient data is by limiting how many people can view and edit documents on the database. Rank-and-file staff typically don’t need full access. Even managers and supervisors mustn’t have all the information of a client, especially those on finances like credit card details and Social Security numbers.
Ideally, they should only get access to enough information that can help them fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities.
5. Plan for Secure Data Disposal
Meanwhile, your organization should also have an idea on how to delete patient information, especially for those who’ve transferred permanently or passed away. You must make sure that the data sanitization process is final and can’t be reconstructed in any form.
Conclusion
The HIPAA is mandated by the US government to ensure that healthcare providers and insurance companies protect patient information. To be compliant with this act, you have to audit and assess your current practices. Afterward, you must evaluate the vulnerabilities and fix them.
You also have to set up contingency plans in case someone in your organization loses some files or unlawfully snoops on patient data, which you can prevent by controlling access to your database. Lastly, develop a secure data disposal process to make sure that sanitization or wiping is final.
