( ENSPIRE Business ) How to Avoid HIPAA Violations for Your Medical Facility
In the medical field, remaining compliant with HIPAA regulations is vital. Why is that? It’s because this Act guarantees the safety of all your patients’ protected health information (PHI). In other words, HIPAA is all about keeping your medical data safe from criminals and other people who shouldn’t have access to someone else’s files. If you want to make sure your facility is up to HIPAA standards, don’t worry. Here are a few ways to keep your medical facility HIPAA compliant.
Make Privacy a Priority at Your Office
One of the best ways to avoid HIPAA violations and fines is to put a high value on everyone’s privacy. Whether patients are in your lobby or patient room, you must respect their privacy at all times. Don’t put cameras in any rooms your patients might be in.
It’s also a good rule of thumb to limit the number of times you refer to a patient by name. Only refer to them by their names when necessary. Beyond that, keep their first name, and especially last name, private from eavesdroppers.
The most important thing to remember is never to leave a patient’s health records unattended or unsecured. It’s a good idea to treat them like you would money at a bank. They must have trusted eyes on them at all times.
Train Your Team on HIPAA Standards
If you want to nip things in the bud, you should have yearly meetings with your staff to go over HIPAA compliance. Give your staff a rundown of all the major regulations and any changes that might have happened this year. The team at HIPAA updates their formal training annually, so you should emulate that with your program.
Beyond that, be sure to track which staff members have and haven’t received their yearly training by using Microsoft Azure. This program is helpful for managing all your HIPAA compliances.
Conduct Mandatory HIPAA Security Assessments
As a follow-up to the training, you can also perform annual HIPAA assessments for yourself and your staff. Completing it will give you a thorough analysis of all the potential risks within your practice. You don’t have to harshly penalize people who fail, but setting up a one-on-one session to clear up any confusion wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Concluding Thoughts
Those are a few of the most trusted ways to keep your medical facility HIPAA compliant. It’s crucial to follow these guidelines to keep your practice out of trouble and your patients safe. The last thing you want is to have one of their medical records stolen and used for nefarious purposes.
