If a business is part of the healthcare industry, it must comply with the regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This act specifies how protected health information (PHI) should be used, distributed, and secured to maintain clients’ privacy and security.

Violating the standards set by this law may lead to termination of employment, going out of business, patient mistrust, and even criminal penalties depending on the severity of the breach. Healthcare providers and associated businesses create a HIPAA compliance guide and checklist to ensure their abidance with its regulations.

It doesn’t stop there. Businesses in the healthcare industry must continue following these guidelines throughout their operations to avoid sanctions. With that said, here are six best practices to help businesses maintain their HIPAA compliance.

Strictly Implement HIPAA Safeguards

There are three standard safeguards required under HIPAA compliance — administrative, physical, and technical — all of which you must strictly implement to efficiently protect PHI and ensure your abidance to this regulation.

Under administrative safeguards, employees are required to know the right procedures for accessing and storing PHIs. It also instructs them to perform an ongoing risk analysis to determine the appropriate security measures for the company.

Meanwhile, physical safeguards are standards meant to regulate access to physical PHI storage hardware and security systems (e.g. computers, locking areas, workstations, alarm systems) to prevent unauthorized access and tampering.

Lastly, technical safeguards are measures implemented to maintain the security of PHI (PHI that is electronically stored). This action includes using firewalls, anti-malware software, data encryption, and backing up data in a secure location.

Maintain Business Associate Agreements (BAA)

A HIPAA-covered entity and its business associates have to sign a BAA to make sure that the latter will maintain the protection of the PHI that it will handle. This contract specifies the conditions for using and disclosing PHI, depending on the relationship between the business associates and the tasks they will carry out.

Using or disclosing PHI beyond what is allowed in this contract is a violation of HIPAA rules and may even subject you to penalties. That is why your organization must always abide by BAAs as part of your HIPAA compliance efforts.

Keep Your Security Software Updated

Handling PHI is now commonplace in the healthcare industry, which makes this kind of sensitive data a target for hackers. Implementing technical safeguards is one way to protect confidential information, but it shouldn’t stop there.

You should update the security software you use for safeguarding PHI and other classified data whenever patches and bug fixes are available. Doing so prevents malicious actors from taking advantage of vulnerabilities from older versions of the programs, thereby maintaining the security of PHI.

Arrange HIPAA Training for Employees

Staff members should undergo proper training to help them gain a thorough understanding of HIPAA regulations, be updated on any changes regarding these rules, and know how to properly handle PHI.

Conducting annual staff training also ensures employees can carry out and complete their work duties without violating HIPAA policies and procedures.

Additionally, this strategy improves efficiency within the company, builds trust, and assures safety for staff members and the organization.

Document Compliance Efforts

Proper documentation of all your organization’s compliance efforts is important to make audits and investigations flow faster and easier. Regulatory and investigative institutions will review your reports of compliance or non-compliance to determine if you pass the audit or if you’re liable for sanctions.

Make sure you keep and organize all your records of security and privacy policies, audits, assessments, BAAs, improvement plans, training, and other pieces of documentation related to your HIPAA compliance efforts.

Follow the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule

When a breach does occur, make sure you report it immediately even if it does not result in a penalty. The notice should include a brief description of the breach, the affected PHI, how individuals can protect themselves, and how the organization is investigating the incident.

It should also include the steps you are taking to prevent the breach from happening again and how individuals can contact you for additional assistance or help.

There are three types of notices that you should carry out when your organization faces a breach:

• Individual Notice

This notice requires you to alert affected individuals (clients, employees, partners, etc.) via a first-class mail, email, phone call, or social media and website post within 60 days following the breach. Your company should also open a toll-free number for at least 90 days that individuals can contact to confirm if the breach affected them.

• Media Notice

If a HIPAA breach affects over 500 people, you are obligated to send a notice to prominent media outlets in the form of a press release. This notification must be sent within 60 days following the discovery of the breach.

• Notice to the Secretary

The notification to the health secretary should be made within 60 days if the breach affected 500 or more individuals, and 60 days after the end of the calendar year if it impacted less than 500 people. You can send this alert via a breach report form.

Conclusion

Whether you are a long-standing business or a start-up looking to accelerate your growth in the healthcare industry, you must follow the rules of HIPAA compliance.

Abiding by these regulations helps you efficiently protect the privacy and security of patient data. It will also streamline administrative functions within the organization and even improve efficiency in the industry.