Cybersecurity incidents such as hacking and other forms of attacks threaten every business regardless of their nature. Healthcare information is not an exception. Patient medical records are highly sensitive and should be protected from third parties’ disclosure, loss, or illegal access. In that effect, relevant regulatory bodies and governments alike have established laws that every healthcare industry player should follow.
With that said, as a healthcare business owner, you need to deploy the necessary technology that meets the specifications of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Moreover, your employees need to be trained and have a HIPAA certification to boost their competence. On top of that, perform regular audits to ensure that you’re up to date with any new regulations.
To help you know how you can carry out an audit for your business, find a sample HIPAA audit checklist from Techumen. Having done all these processes, here are benefits that your business can reap from HIPAA training and compliance:
Regulations Are Constantly Being Updated
Medical technology is changing rapidly to counter cybersecurity issues. Hackers are becoming more innovative. Similarly, technology inventors have to be smarter. In this regard, to constantly keep the industry well protected, laws and policies surrounding new technology and security concerns are reviewed regularly. It’s the responsibility of every business owner to ensure that they’re on the same page with new technology and laws.
Surprisingly, what you were practicing a couple of years ago might now be outlawed by new regulations. Stay updated by routinely training your employees concerning HIPAA.
Safeguards From Lawsuits
Lawsuits on exposure of private information are costly. They can cost your business millions of dollars from a successful hacking incident. Therefore, you need to be on guard always to ensure that you’re safe from any possible lawsuits.
Previous lawsuits to other organizations, even outside the healthcare industry, have been a big blow to the extent of closing some of them. To put a twist on the popular medical adage; an ounce of HIPAA training and compliance measures is better than curing a lawsuit. Even though training and compliance measures may consume a good amount of your budget, it’s a great investment.
Helps You Improve Your Competitive Advantage
In highly personal life experiences like medical issues, clients turn to medical facilities they can trust. As your clients enter the reception area and see certification from the regulator, it boosts their confidence in your facility. It can easily attract high-ranking officials to your facility. If ordinary citizens notice that your facility is trusted by local government or national government officials, they get motivated to use your healthcare facility.
In addition, complying with HIPAA regulations helps level up the standards of your healthcare in your business. It instills healthcare values in your practice. As a result, HIPAA training and compliance can be a significant boost to your business.
Boosts Employees’ Competency
Today’s medical practice is in a highly technical environment. It’s not enough to employ medical professionals; they must be updated with current HIPAA software. They need to know how to use HIPAA-compliant software that you might be using in your enterprise.
Moreover, you should train them to ensure the information they’re using isn’t exposed to third parties. Not even unknowingly due to a lack of competence in using the technology. See that they can comfortably use the cybersecurity protocols efficiently. Training your employees helps them give better services to your customers.
Helps Protect Your Employees
Your employees need to know how they can protect themselves from lawsuits. It’s believed in the law profession that ignorance is no defense. As a result, if your workers understand what the law says and how they can comply with it, they can easily walk on the safe side of the law. Some lawsuits may affect not only your business but also the individuals involved.
Equips New Staff
In most of the medical-related training programs, they don’t train their students adequately concerning HIPAA regulations. Many graduates learn this information while at work. On the other hand, even if they learned in school, there is a high probability that they’ve forgotten. Therefore, when recruiting new staff to be part of your team, don’t forget to train them.
Final Thoughts
A safe working environment is a priority for customers, employees, and business owners. Medical institutions have to ensure that they meet all regulations from relevant governments and regulators to achieve this objective. As you’ve seen in this article, HIPAA training and compliance are essential for a good workplace.
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