For any small to medium-sized business, dealing with your IT and the issues that it presents can be difficult at times. For medical offices, who have the added complication of having to take HIPAA regulations and compliance into account, it can seem downright impossible. The good news is, when you work with a Managed-IT services provider like IT21st they can help you achieve and maintain HIPAA compliance so that your practice is legally covered and your patient’s sensitive, personal information is safe. Here we will look at exactly how they do it.
The Checklist
The first step that IT21st takes when partnering with a medical office to help them with their HIPAA compliance standards is to complete a 6-step audit of the medical office’s current IT procedures and practices. This help to identify any gaps in data protection so that they can be addressed and rectified. The 6-steps are as follows.
Security Risk Assessment – an overall assessment of your IT security find vulnerabilities and threat and understand the risks involved in your current system
Privacy Assessment – an evaluation of how the Personally Identifiable Date (PII) you have on your systems is currently being managed and secured to make sure it is compliant with all HIPAA regulations.
HITECH Subtitle D Audit – we check to make sure your office is prepared of what to do in the event of a data breach and are able to report it properly, according to the HITECH Act.
Security Standards Audit – a check of whether your current IT security standards are compliant with HIPAA regulations.
Asset and Device Audit – we evaluate all your physical devices and systems to make sure that each one is up to security standards.
Physical Site Audit – this is a site visit where we assess the security of and access to your technology to make sure it is protected.
Staff Training – adequate and regular training is the key to ensure compliance is met and maintained.
Protecting the Data
Once IT21st completes our 6-step HIPAA compliance audit of your systems and physical technology, we will present a full report of vulnerabilities, gaps, risks and put an actionable plan in place to ensure you are compliant and your patient’s data is safe.
To do this we have implemented a wide range of security measures and procedures to provide our medical clients with a means to scan their network computers and data to make sure there are no unprotected PII. We have also assisted them with having the ability to send the data via email in an encrypted fashion when sensitive data is involved, and labeling documents to automatically detect and encrypt if sensitive data (such as bank account info, SSN, patient information, etc.) is detected.
It’s Not Just About the Computers
There is an additional step IT21st provides our medical clients. Securing sensitive data and complying with all HIPAA and HITECH regulations is not just about technology and software. It is also about the human element involved. We believe data security is a holistic process that involves everyone in an office understanding the processes and procedures in place, being able to correctly follow them and knowing what to do in case an issue arises. To this end, we have also partnered with a HIPAA compliance firm to provide employee awareness and training when it comes to HIPAA
Conclusion
Dealing with HIPAA compliance for a small medical office is incredibly important but it does not have to be difficult. The experts at IT21st can help ensure your patients’ most important data is protected and your business is covered. If you have a medical office in the area, reach out to us to find out how we can help your practice.
We serve Los Angeles, CA or any of the surrounding areas such as, Arcadia, CA, Burbank, CA, Chatsworth, CA, Culver City, CA, Downtown LA, Encino, CA, Glendale, CA, Hollywood, CA, Los Angeles, CA, North Hollywood, CA, Pasadena, CA, San Fernando, CA, Santa Monica, CA Sherman Oaks, CA Tarzana, CA Universal City, CA, Van Nuys, CA, West LA, Woodland Hills, CA and more.
