Data Security - Is Your Patient Data Protected?

As the healthcare industry faces increased scrutiny regarding how patient privacy is maintained, it is important to find tools to better protect patient data, especially data found on laptops. Understanding current security standards and the tools available to help prevent security breaches, is just one piece of the pie. Selecting and implementing a plan that will protect your agency is another.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, also referred to as the HITECH Act was passed by Congress on February 13, 2009 and was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. So, what does this mean for you and your home health or hospice agency?

This bill was designed to advance the use of health information technology (HIT), such as electronic medical records. One major objective of this bill is to strengthen privacy and security laws to protect identifiable health information from misuse, especially as the healthcare industry increases its use of technology. One way that HITECH will affect current HIPAA policies and procedures is through security breaches. If a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI) occurs, agencies are required to identify and notify individuals at risk, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and in some cases the news media.

The HITECH Act has updated the original standards of HIPAA, including the financial penalties for HIPAA violations, which can be up to $1,500,000 depending on the severity of the offense. One way to avoid these fines and help secure patient data is through encryption.

Under the HITECH Act, agencies that appropriately encrypt electronic health records and other PHI may avoid the onerous breach notification requirements because the data is considered secured. Since the data is encrypted it is protected and unreadable. Clearly, encryption is a worthy endeavor if it can render PHI secure, preventing the need to proceed with costly security breach notifications.

Encryption is just one important tool to safeguard patient data. To learn more about current security standards and the tools available to help prevent security breaches, view Thornberry Ltd's webinar, Security: Protecting your Patient Data.

Is your current EMR technology partner providing you with resourceful information about how to protect your patient data based on your organization's internal practices and the HITECH Act data security requirements? Our experts can help you effectively implement an EMR technology strategy that will dramatically assist your agency in creating success today and in the future. Call 717.283.0980 or email learnmore@thornberryltd.com.