Healthcare organisations managing private medical information must adhere to HIPAA regulations.
However, the complexity of HIPAA compliance is a challenge. It can be challenging to comprehend and put into practise, which can lead to costly errors and disgruntled patients. Below we have mentioned 5 common HIPAA mistake that every organization must look after.
1: A LOST OR STOLEN DEVICE THAT WAS NOT ENCRYPTED
Theft or loss of computers, laptops, tablets, and cellphones that have patient health information stored on them is currently the biggest issue with HIPAA compliance. If you use your personal or business devices to access this information, both are included. Mobile devices are especially susceptible to theft and loss due to their portability and small size.
2: LACK OF EMPLOYMENT TRAINING
Consistent HIPAA compliance among employees is a credit to their hard work, but it is also the outcome of the training received from senior management. Unfortunately, a large number of behavioural health clinics do not adequately train their staff on HIPAA compliance.
Obvious compliance issues won’t be a problem without adequate or complete HIPAA training, but employees’ ignorance of the smaller, more intricate infractions will. Unfortunately, even minor infractions can have a big impact on the practise.
Practice security is maintained by being proactive and preparing staff for everything related to HIPAA compliance.
3: DATABASE BREACHES
Given the large scale on which many of them occur, data breaches receive the most media attention of all reported HIPAA infractions. The healthcare business loses more than $6.2 billion annually due to data breaches.
Every health institution must take database breaches seriously and put security measures in place to guard against them since any company is susceptible to hacking.
4. Improper Filing and Disposing of Documents
It’s very likely that a human error will occur while using a paper filing system, causing an employee to accidentally file a patient’s record improperly or dispose of a document without first destroying it. People occasionally just have bad days or become preoccupied. With this system, mistakes occur more frequently.
5. Getting Hacked
The number of healthcare network servers that have been breached over the past few years has increased. A healthcare data breach in 2021 harmed 50 million people, or 15% of the US population at the time. With the development of technology like telemedicine, cloud storage, and digital communication, this problem has become even more widespread.
When these knowledgeable hackers, who are only becoming better at what they do, gain access to these servers, which include PHI for hundreds to millions of patients, they leak this information out or sell it to the highest bidder. Social Security numbers, birth dates, residences, and insurance details are some of this data.
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