Driven by the rapid development of digital technology, the healthcare landscape is undergoing radical changes. Healthcare professionals using digital communication tools to change pharmacological treatment and medical services delivery are leading the front stage in this transformation. These instruments provide doctors with convenience and access to patients in underprivileged and remote locations, enabling them to visually and orally evaluate a patient's condition and inform their choice of therapy.
Without safe healthcare-specific communication technologies, data-sharing problems, siloed communication, poor cooperation, HIPAA breaches, and possible medical errors can all arise.
Telehealth systems also help reduce the number of in-office visits, which often utilize resources, by allowing healthcare providers to confer electronically on less critical issues.
To achieve the most significant potential health benefits for patients, this article will emphasize the importance of understanding HIPAA violations and why healthcare companies should adopt current patient communication tools and social networks to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery.
Also Read: The Role of Secure Texting in Patient Communication
HIPAA dictates the sharing of sensitive data to ensure that personal health records remain private, regardless of whether you are a patient or a healthcare professional. Legislators first proposed HIPAA to safeguard personal health information coverage in the event of a job change. However, while the digital era introduced new approaches for storing, accessing, and distributing medical records, legislators also strengthened HIPAA to protect private health information.
HIPAA has two primary rules that directly impact communication: the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule. The Privacy Rule ensures that a patient's medical records are kept private and disclosed only to those with a legitimate need-to-know basis. Conversely, the Security Rule defines guidelines for how HIPAA-secure communication should physically and technologically safeguard health information. These guidelines, taken together, provide a framework for healthcare professionals to follow in maintaining patient information safely while ensuring it is easily accessible as needed.
Today, healthcare technology is developing quickly. Patient communication has also evolved beyond conventional office visits. Patients today expect multiple means of contact, including phone conversations, emails, text messages, telehealth consultations, and live chat assistance. These developments introduce additional risks to securing communication, particularly in terms of data security and compliance.
Protecting patients, including their data, is your ethical and legal obligation, whether you are a business associate or caretaker. Thus, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a legislative framework that regulates the privacy and security of healthcare data. Strictly monitoring how covered businesses handle data helps prevent unauthorized access and safeguards patient information.
HIPAA rules outline guidelines for collecting, maintaining, and protecting patient records. They mandate information security, including contact details, identification, and service dates. HIPAA rules also govern whether the material might identify the patient.
Without safe healthcare-specific communication technologies that secure communication for HIPAA compliance, data-sharing problems, siloed communication, restricted cooperation, and HIPAA violations are possible. Breaches in healthcare data have become increasingly common and severe. Almost 133 million patients' health data were hacked in 2023.
A HIPAA-compliant communication platform for healthcare companies can help you manage these challenges more effectively. When choosing a healthcare platform, look for a HIPAA-compliant platform that is easy to use and loaded with healthcare-specific tools to reduce the communication load for medical practitioners.
Sensitive patient data protection is a standard set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Businesses handling protected health information (PHI) must have and follow physical, network, and procedural security systems in place to ensure HIPAA Compliance. It requires covered entities, which include anyone offering treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, as well as business associates and individuals with access to patient data, to provide support for either treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
Also Read: The Ultimate Guide to HIPAA-Compliant Secure Texting
Healthcare companies can navigate the complexity of this network and process while protecting patient data and maintaining regulatory integrity by prioritizing thorough data security measures and adhering to HIPAA compliance guidelines. This is accomplished by exploring important variables like:
Protecting patient privacy, advancing data security, and establishing national standards for healthcare information management in the United States depend critically on HIPAA rules. Important HIPAA rules include:
Privacy Rule:
The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes standards for protecting individuals' protected health information (PHI). It describes the allowed uses and disclosures of PHI by healthcare professionals and organizations. It establishes guidelines for obtaining patient agreement and authorization to share their personally identifiable health information, empowering individuals to control their health information.
Security Rule:
The HIPAA Security Rule describes defenses for ePHI. It requires access restrictions, encryption, audit logs, and risk assessments to preserve the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI from an administrative, physical, and technological standpoint.
HIPAA-compliant platforms must ensure that their platforms or electronic communication channels meet this criterion for compliance with the HIPAA rules on telemedicine within the HIPAA Security Rule. These criteria include:
HIPAA provides physicians with a framework for balancing patient rights with the quality of care, ultimately benefiting both patients and physicians. Its significance touches on a provider's ethical obligation not to harm, transcending mere legal requirements.
Healthcare jobs often involve interacting with and supporting individuals. While there may be other risks in healthcare that outweigh the need for effective communication, patient care ultimately depends on good communication. Inadequate communication tools can lead to various types of HIPAA violations, resulting in issues for both patients and coworkers.
Here are the top violations as a result of common HIPAA compliance issues regarding poor communication tools:
The leading American healthcare provider in the state of Michigan suffered a data breach that compromised the personal information of almost 20,000 patients following unauthorized access to the email accounts of a group of workers.
The healthcare provider first became aware of the problem on October 3, 2017, when it discovered that the email credentials of many staff members had been compromised. The emails remained open to illicit access, even though they were encrypted with a name and password.
Officials at HFHS claimed it is unknown whether the 18,470 patient records had been exploited for improper intent. The email accounts contained patient health information, such as:
Although the event was detected early, it is uncertain how an unidentified person or object infiltrated the Detroit-based health facility's electronic health information system.
An Atlanta-based pediatric home healthcare provider was required to pay a $425,000 monetary settlement and implement a comprehensive information security program following a July 2019 data breach allegedly caused by the company's unsecured email storage of patient records. According to the inquiry, between July 9, 2019, and August 24, 2019, an unidentified hacker accessed several personnel email accounts used in patient correspondence.
Social security numbers, physical addresses, birth dates, bank account and credit card information, medical records, Medicare ID numbers, diagnoses, and treatments, among other sensitive data, were among the inappropriately accessed information by individuals responsible for the hack.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, this protected health information (PHI) exposure affected more than 4,000 patients and staff because the Georgia-based home healthcare company allegedly failed to safeguard patient data due to insecure email use.
The breach, reported to the Department of Health and Human Services on February 14, ranks sixth among all posted to the HHS HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool website thus far this year.
A cancer institution in Texas paid over $4.3 million in civil monetary fines following three HIPAA data security violations. According to the Office of Civil Rights investigation, three devices were taken, compromising PHI for over 34,000 individuals. Although the center had security rules to prevent any possible theft-related breach, the implicated laptop and USB flash drives lacked encryption or password protection.
A national health maintenance organization mailed an EOB explaining benefits to an unauthorized family member. According to OCR's investigation, a computer system error in the health plan exposed the protected health data of over 2,000 families, breaching the Rule. Among the remedial efforts needed to address this matter, OCR mandated that the insurance fix a computer system problem, review all transactions, and replace any damaged patient data.
A nurse who worked at a well-known children's hospital in Texas was let go after uploading images of a patient's medical condition to social media, thereby violating the patient's privacy. For the hospital and its personnel, this event caused a significant adverse reaction.
When she left a message on the home phone number of a patient's daughter outlining the mother's medical condition and treatment, a hospital staff member neglected to follow minimal essential criteria and reasonable measures. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stated that the employee violated the privacy regulation because the patient directed the office to call her personally on her work phone.
OCR began investigating on April 17, 2014, after learning that a Philadelphia Health Care Service had experienced a breach of PHI involving the theft of an employee's iPhone supplied by the organization. It was not password locked, and the iPhone was unencrypted.
The detailed information on the iPhone includes social security numbers, medical procedures, names of family members and legal guardians, diagnostic and treatment information, and details about medications.
OCR also found that the company lacked a risk analysis or management system at the time of the incident; procedures addressing the removal of mobile devices carrying PHI from its site, as well as procedures for addressing security issues, were also absent. The combined breaches impacted 412 people. The settlement included a remedial action plan and a monetary award of $650,000.
Fortunately, QliqSOFT’s HIPAA-compliant messaging platform provides authentication and access restrictions to ensure that only authorized individuals can access and use PHI. It utilizes secure healthcare messaging protocols and encryption to protect PHI during transmission and storage. To ensure top-tier security, compliance, and trust, QliqSOFT utilizes SOC 2 Type 1 Certification and integrates with third-party systems using HL7, FHIR, REST APIs, and JSON data. These processes offer a unique login and password, as well as two-factor verification, before granting access to PHI.
Ensuring the confidentiality and private management of patient health information (PHI) while maintaining secure communication for HIPAA compliance is a daily duty for healthcare professionals, managers, and staff members.
HIPAA rules exist to safeguard patient privacy and preserve the integrity of healthcare services; violations can result in severe penalties that can last for years, potentially destroying a healthcare company. While even unintentional negligence can lead to significant penalties, including employee firing and sanctions, purposeful violations can result in substantial financial losses and even criminal prosecution.
HIPAA violations penalties vary from:
The complexity of healthcare operations sometimes results in compliance violations, underscoring the need for staff to receive ongoing education and support. HIPAA violations compromise patient confidence and prompt regulatory authorities to conduct thorough investigations, which can result in increased scrutiny and potential operational modifications.
HIPAA compliance largely depends on technology in today's digital environment. PHI must be stored, transmitted, and accessed through secure systems, such as encrypted communication platforms and cloud services that utilize secure protocols.
We at QliqSOFT provide encryption for cloud storage to securely distribute personal medical records to our healthcare experts. Medical practitioners can utilize our HIPAA-compliant messaging system to respond to inquiries, review operations with patients, and offer medical advice.
Through RESTful API, QliqSOFT provides end-to-end encryption for all messages via HTTPS. This ensures that only patients and our medical practitioner can access the contents, avoiding insecure communication risks.
Our Easy API and app integration features are among the aspects for which we are known. We provide our users with a secure alternative for private communication through texting.
Any healthcare institution must have a HIPAA-compliant communication system to avoid HIPAA violations. Choosing the right solution will enable you to increase satisfaction and foster patient confidence. Better patient care also depends on the security and safe handling of patient information.
HIPAA compliance is a significant undertaking; if it sounds like it, it is because it is indeed true. Compliance often appears to be an afterthought in hectic medical practices, which is why many doctors approach it on autopilot. The HIPAA-compliant texting platform from QliqSOFT enables you to meet your healthcare privacy requirements easily.
At QliqSOFT, we offer a secure text messaging solution that automates notifications and enables instant activation of treatment. It's like having a second line on your mobile phone, which ensures compliance with HIPAA. This makes calling simple, dependable, and safe messaging effortless, without risking HIPAA violations.
Krishna Kurapati is the Founder and CEO of QliqSOFT. He has more than two decades of technology entrepreneurship experience. Kurapati started QliqSOFT with the strong desire to solve clinical collaboration and workflow challenges using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital technologies across the U.S. healthcare system.
© 2024 QliqSOFT, Inc. All Rights reserved
