HIPAA Compliance at OG Healthcare (Continued..)

HIPAA Compliance @OG Healthcare……(Continued)

 Many developments and innovations have happened in the healthcare industry over the past decade or two. One such revolutionary innovation is the emergence of electronic health record (EHR) which changed the healthcare domain forever. Various industries have benefited from Cloud applications but this technology created ripples in the healthcare industry. With the powerful combination of technology and human ingenuity, healthcare organizations can scale up to manage millions of electronic patient health records. Over the last 18 months, Telemedicine that allows healthcare providers to offer care to their patients outside the clinical setting is transforming the healthcare industry. Healthcare providers use mobile devices to access information and to stay connected to patients and to one another. Because of their ability to provide real-time access, using mobile devices have a positive impact on patient care, safety, and overall experience. Using mobile technology, healthcare providers can now access information quickly from anywhere, relieving some of the administrative burden they face each day.

Technology’s ever onward progress has been a boon beyond doubt; however, there are two sides to everything, and like everything it is never immune to abuse. In an era of technology boom where every move leaves a footprint, cybercrime against the healthcare industry has been rampant and widespread. Even the heavily regulated industries like insurance is prone to security attacks. During 2017’s largest data breach, medical records of million clients were stolen from a US health insurer and staggering amount of personal, medical and financial information was leaked. Subsequent years saw many incidents as well, including a large number of high-profile ransomware attacks. Patient data is very much sought after by cybercriminals with hospitals being targeted for payments in Bitcoins and other crypto currencies. In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, digital adoption spiked with WFH and Telemedicine virtual consultations has further amplified the industry’s vulnerability to lethal and advanced cyber attacks. Due to the rising demands and expectations, minimizing the inherent risks of inadvertent malicious access continue to be a huge challenge.

As described in my last article on HIPAA compliance, maintaining data confidentiality is paramount in OG Healthcare. We undertake continuous efforts to ensure our security measures are up to the standard with greatest focus on cyber security with strict regulations. We follow the industry’s best practices for data protection. Vigilance and surveillance is essential part of OG’s HIPAA compliance routine. Our IT team work round-the-clock, monitoring to avert any breach or suspicious activity. The software platforms and applications we use are top-of-the-line, efficient, and next-generation technology solutions that have technical safeguards with multi-factor authentication. Data security is preserved at OG by augmenting various security tools to protect our software against phishing, spam, viruses, malware, etc. Our employees are trained to not trust anything trying to connect to the organization’s systems without verification.

We have digitalized HIPAA policy in effect with regular updates and e-mail notifications. All employees of OG are aware of HIPAA and synonymous with its adherence. Its awareness, risks, and training is a continuous process, like a journey and not a destination. As there are always new threats emerging everyday, we train our staff over and over and their understanding and compliance is tested frequently.

How is your organization handling the patient’s sensitive data security in adherence with HIPAA? Tell us in the comments section below.

This article is written by Marcus Sandeep. J. The author is an Ace Medical Scribe at OG Healthcare with 16 years of experience in the healthcare industry.

Disclaimer: * The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author’s and in no way represent the views, positions, or opinions expressed or implied of OG Healthcare or anyone else.