Last Updated | September 29, 2022
Executive Summary – HIPAA Compliance Software Checklist
Are you here for the HIPAA Compliance Software Checklist? Don’t miss out this guide. Healthcare organizations are the most popular target of cyberattacks and these attacks are increasing by leaps and bounds. According to the research, 512 cyberattacks occurred in the healthcare industry in 2019. To control these breaches, healthcare apps and software have to comply with HIPAA, which specifies the security protocols to keep healthcare data secure.
Introduction – HIPAA Compliance Software Checklist
The healthcare software market is growing by 13% CAGR annually and it’s estimated to reach $76.45 billion by the end of 2025. In addition, mobile health is estimated to grow by 43.9% by the year 2027. Given COVID-19, there has been significant growth in virtual and augmented reality, telemedicine, wearable technology, the Internet of Medical Things, and AI.
All these areas of technology are meant to improve patient healthcare and reduce healthcare costs while assisting in medical discoveries. For this reason, various software solutions and apps are being designed but many don’t pay attention to the HIPAA compliance software checklist.
HIPAA is basically a federal law that required business associates as well as covered entities to optimize the security measures to become compliant with the specific HIPAA standards. Every healthcare facility has to consider the HIPAA compliance software checklist and this article has sufficient information about it.
Learn more about 3 major things addressed in HIPAA Law
What Is HIPAA Compliance Software and What Does It Do?
HIPAA is the federal law that allows healthcare organizations to ensure the highest standards of security to prevent cyberattacks and data breaches. There are four types of companies that need to consider the HIPAA compliance software checklist.
First of all, the healthcare organizations that provide medical services, such as pharmacies, hospitals, psychiatric, labs, and clinics. In addition, the health maintenance and insurance companies as well as private and government medical programs have to consider the HIPAA IT compliance requirements.
The IT solutions designed for healthcare organizations need to comply with the HIPAA requirements to secure the EPHI (electric protected health information). EPHI is the electronic data on psychological and/or physical health, payments, provided healthcare services, and treatment plans.
In addition, it also includes identifiable information. The software developers need to consider HIPAA compliant software list and provide access to the EPHI to only authorized people and for a specific time period. Moreover, the stored data must be encrypted through digital and physical protection measures.
Non-compliance with the HIPAA compliance software checklist can result in data disclosure as well as strict punishments for both individuals and organizations who are responsible for the incident. For this reason, every telemedicine software development company needs to focus on designing the software with HIPAA compliance.
Read more about HIPAA medical records release laws here!
The Benefits of Using HIPAA Compliance Software
Adhering to HIPAA is required by law for US healthcare organizations, especially when they want to integrate healthcare software into regular operations. Complying with the HIPAA compliance software checklist actually has an array of benefits.
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Trusting Relationship
With the increasing health risks and cyberattacks, it’s become challenging for patients to trust their healthcare providers. However, complying with HIPAA standards increases the patient’s trust in the healthcare organization. It’s important that healthcare organizations demonstrate that they are following HIPAA compliance to make sure the patients have the peace of mind that their private information isn’t leaked.
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Higher Loyalty
The usage of HIPAA-compliant software will increase loyalty. This is because the security breaches and data loss caused by mishandling will also cause a loss of patient loyalty. For this reason, it’s recommended that every healthcare organization focuses on the HIPAA compliance checklist for software development as it not only increases patient loyalty but also earns more revenue due to the security efforts.
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No Penalties
Another benefit of implementing HIPAA-compliant software is that healthcare organizations won’t have to struggle with penalties for not complying with the regulations. Not complying with the standards can result in lawsuits, audits, and fines – all these consequences can be financially-draining. However, when the IoT healthcare solutions are HIPAA-compliant, all the regulations are met and the organizations won’t have to worry about financial punishment.
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Easier Tracking
The healthcare ERP systems should have the ability to audit the security standards, conduct risk assessments, and overviews the physical security. However, these processes are extremely time-consuming, especially when healthcare organizations are understaffed.
On the other hand, with HIPAA-compliant software, the organizations will be able to keep track of the healthcare processes and demonstrate that every audit has been completed. In addition, the best electronic health records software company can also integrate the self-auditing feature.
How To Choose the Right HIPAA Compliance Software for Your Business?
Now that you understand what is HIPAA compliance checklist, it’s important to understand how to find the right HIPAA compliance software. For this reason, it’s important that you consider the software solutions with the following features;
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Self-Audits
The software must allow the users to audit the medical and healthcare practices according to HIPAA regulations. These audits provide the baseline assessment of privacy and security measures that you have already implemented and compare them to the HIPAA standards. So, make sure that the software offers security risk assessment and considers the HIPAA prerequisites to prevent law-breaching fines and penalties.
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Remediation
The HIPAA compliance software should have the feature to allow the development of remediation plans to cover the gaps identified through security risk assessments and self-audits. The remediation plans are important to ensure HIPAA compliance because they work as proof that the organization has completed due diligence.
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Policies & Procedures
The procedures and policies are the primary infrastructures around which the HIPAA compliance program is developed. The HIPAA regulations outline certain standards for security and privacy that should be implemented and the healthcare organizations. Having said that, make sure that the software is integrated with the policies and procedures to receive instant notifications in case of non-compliance.
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Documentation
Documentation is one of the most important parts of every HIPAA compliance software. That’s because, without proper documentation of the compliance process, the healthcare organization won’t be able to defend itself. So, make sure that the HIPAA compliance software has the ability to create documentation for every step and process of the compliance programs. Also, the software must retain the documentation for a minimum of six years to adhere to HIPAA mandates.
Read more: How to make an app HIPAA compliant?
How To Install and Use HIPAA Compliance Software?
Many healthcare organizations tend to hire medical app developers for developing HIPAA compliance software. However, you can also get in touch with an agency offering custom healthcare app development services to make sure the healthcare software is integrated with access controls, end-to-end encryption, self-auditing, recovery plan, and documentation feature.
The development companies can also help install the HIPAA compliance software and provide staff training to ensure the correct utilization of the software.
Tips For Maintaining HIPAA Compliance with Your Software
To maintain HIPAA compliance with the software, you need to implement cybersecurity measures, introduce access control, data encryption, efficient data management, and user tracking. In addition, make sure that all the documentation is completed and that there are emergency backup and measures in place.
Conclusion
HIPAA compliance software checklist is important to protect healthcare data from data breaches and to avoid regulatory fines. For this reason, it’s important for healthcare organizations to create software solutions that are compliant with HIPAA. So, make sure you hire reliable software developers to ensure the software has all the features while being compliant with HIPAA.
FAQs: – HIPAA Compliance Software Checklist
What HIPAA software compliance tool would you use and why?
The HIPAA software compliance tool that walks the users through the setup and implementation process is the best choice. In addition, it should be able to maintain the HIPAA procedures and policies, track the staff training, and ensures correct security safeguards.
Does HIPAA require software updates?
Yes, according to the HIPAA security rule, the covered entities should undergo security updates. In particular, to ensure HIPAA compliance at all times, it’s important to apply the software updates and patches as soon as they are released.
Can you use Google Docs for HIPAA compliance?
Yes, you can use Google Docs but make sure the stored data is encrypted to ensure HIPAA compliance. The data should be encrypted during downloading and uploading processes as well.
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