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Keeping up with HIPAA and healthcare IT regulations can be a full-time job, if it is done in-house.  However, most companies can outsource the liabilities associated with non-compliance by hiring Information Technology (IT) experts who can make sure the small hospital or physician’s office is in compliance, even when they aren’t aware of all the details. This can reduce the need to hire in-house technology experts who spend a lot of their time just keeping informed on HIPAA and healthcare IT issues.  It also provides a much leaner IT workforce, but one that is uniquely qualified to provide the four basic offerings necessary to be in compliance: protecting data, limiting and managing access to sensitive medical information, implementing disaster recovery and emergency protocols when necessary, and monitoring network security.

Four Ways Your Privacy Should Be Protected

HIPAA and healthcare IT is concerned with making sure that patient medical information does not get released inappropriately to people who have no right viewing it.  When you’re working with multiple medical personnel and your IT department is not as informed as it should be, data breaches can occur that signal non-compliance.  Businesses like small hospitals and doctor’s offices may not have the needed expertise on-hand, but they can easily get it via companies like Netgainhosting.com. Non-compliance can end resulting in civil and criminal penalties, so it's important to make sure your IT data is protected at all times.  Make sure your IT provider is offering the following HIPAA related services:

1. Data Access Controls - To limit and manage access to sensitive data, the IT provider who wants to remain HIPAA compliant will have to make sure they have the necessary software measures in place.  These include; offering unique IDs for the users, a way to access a user account in an emergency, encryption and decryption protocols, and automatic log-offs to maintain security.
2. Disaster Recovery and Emergency Protocols - If something goes wrong and the servers go down, it’s important to know what steps to take.  Your IT provider will have disaster recovery and emergency protocols that not only safeguard the data after a crash, but that also keep it secure and away from hackers.
3. Network and Transmission Monitoring - To keep a tight lid on data that is being passed along a network, one has to keep track of emails, Internet use, and even cloud access and storage.  Audit reports are produced to keep track of all software and hardware usage as it might relate to any unauthorized public access to a medical provider’s sensitive data.
4. Network and Transmission Monitoring - To keep a tight lid on data that is being passed along a network, one has to keep track of emails, Internet use, and even cloud access and storage.  Audit reports are produced to keep track of all software and hardware usage as it might relate to any unauthorized public access to a medical provider’s sensitive data.

A hosting company that is HIPAA compliant will offer these services and more.  They will keep track of all the data being stored and transmitted within a medical provider’s business, so that the doctor’s office or hospital can continue to provide services without worrying too much about the data.  When an emergency does happen, the HIPAA and healthcare IT provider will be on-hand to recover the information as quickly as possible without data loss or corruption, all the time keeping it securely locked against any unwarranted access by others in the public domain.

Image courtesy of: Stuart Miles/ Freedigitalphotos.net