HIPAA Compliance Basics – IT HIPAA Compliance
If you are an organization subject to HIPAA, you need to understand and comply with all relevant requirements. Learn more about how this law applies to your company.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 set standards for all organizations that handle protected health information. In the past, HIPAA standards for privacy and security mainly applied to the management of paper health records and verbal exchanges of patient health information. In today’s modern world, however, the majority of protected health information is in a digital format, and these standards must be applied differently.
HIPAA Basics
HIPAA sets guidelines organizations must follow when they collect and store private health information. The law provides patients with certain rights to access their own health information, as well as confidentiality protections. HIPAA also outlines the steps an organization must follow when private health information has been compromised.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act
To ensure that all organizations subject to HIPAA are in compliance in the digital age, the government passed an additional law: the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. Essentially, this new law raises the penalties that apply when a health organization violates any of HIPAA’s standards for privacy and security of protected health information.
How to Protect Your Data
In light of the many restrictive standards that apply to protected health information, it is essential for every organization that handles this information to take the matter seriously. Below are some tips to help you protect your data from vulnerability.
1. Invest in security software.
2. Train personnel.
3. Partner with the right professionals.
4. Stay in the know.