Review HIPAA Compliance & How Spectra Networks Can Help
Over the past few years, during the global covid-19 pandemic, we have heard the privacy terminology bantered around, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Sometimes the information was spot on about the requirements of healthcare facilities and providers and the rights of patients, but other times the information was less than accurate. Part of our field of expertise at Spectra is to help businesses especially in the healthcare field manage their technology in a way that remains in compliance with these privacy laws. Due to the spread of misinformation in recent years, it is a good time to remind our readers about what the HIPAA Act is and how our team at Spectra can assist and support your business in order to remain compliant.
What is HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law (1996) that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. The HIPAA Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information (known as protected health information or PHI) by entities subject to the Privacy Rule. These individuals and organizations are called “covered entities,” which could be an individual, organizations, or agencies. Covered entities include doctors, clinics, healthcare facilities, dentists, chiropractors, nursing homes, and pharmacies. (Source: Department of Health & Human Services) To comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, all covered entities must:
Ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all e-PHI
Detect and safeguard against anticipated threats to the security of the information
Protect against anticipated impermissible uses or disclosures that are not allowed by the rule
Certify compliance by their workforce
How Spectra Networks Can Help
Most patient data including diagnoses, personal identifying information, and medical history are stored, transmitted, and analyzed digitally (as opposed to the paper filing of the past). That means that as a healthcare provider, your company will have access to electronically Protected Healthcare Information (ePHI). This information needs to be protected while it is in your possession as well as when you electronically transmit data. As the requirements of HIPAA continually evolve, especially through the pandemic, when telehealth visits became a necessity, Spectra Networks has also continually maintained our working knowledge of how HIPAA compliance needs to be updated for our clients. Three of the major areas of protecting sensitive client data involves
Physical Safeguards (Hardware and software)
Technical Safeguards for storing and transmitting data
Administrative Safeguards including training personnel
Each of these areas involves a comprehensive plan for protecting data from the moment it enters your system to the moment it is stored or transmitted. Our team can help your business take every available step to safeguard client data including training for your staff, storage and transmission safeguards, and physical security on your hardware. Sometimes it’s hard to see through the misinformation, but rest assured that Spectra is staying on top of the changes and improvements in HIPAA Compliance. Talk to our team today about how we can support your efforts to protect your client data.
