Global Health, Fitness and Medical Issues

HIPAA Policies and Procedures Templates are form documents that relate to a particular area of HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA Policies and Procedures templates provide information on what an organization must do to be compliant in that area. As an example, HIPAA Policies and Procedures Templates include a Policy and Procedure Template for Breach Notification.

The template contains general language about how to detect and report a breach. 

For a healthcare organization to meet HIPAA compliance requirements, its physicians, nurses, other medical staff, and any other employees who may encounter protected health information (PHI) or electronic protected health information (ePHI) must understand what their job roles allow them to do.

HIPAA Policies and Procedures Templates include, for example, a policy and procedure for the HIPAA “Accounting of Disclosures” provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. This provision requires healthcare organizations to give patients an accounting of entities and persons to whom the organization has sent patient PHI.

When a patient requests an accounting, the healthcare organization must have a policy, or overall principle, about accountings of disclosures. This principle can be put in writing, as something along the lines of “The law requires us to provide patients with the names of people and organizations we have given their PHI to. The law also requires that we let patients know what PHI we disclosed.” 

The organization can only handle specific patient requests once it has implemented a series of processes for doing so. These processes are called procedures.

A procedure is a series of steps allowing for the organization to provide the accounting. Procedures that are required in the accounting of disclosures context include procedures for determining who is qualified to answer a request (so that only people whose job duties require access to PHI can answer), what requests require the organization to provide the accounting and what requests the organization need not provide an accounting for, how the accounting is to be provided (i.e., by first-class mail, overnight mail, fax with a HIPAA compliant fax cover sheet), and when (within what timeframe) the accounting must be provided.

The organization must also have a process in place that addresses what it must do when a patient complains that the accounting he or she received was not complete, or did not contain required information.

Using HIPAA Policies and Procedures Templates, which require that the same process be followed each time a patient makes a request, ensures the organization will consistently and accurately meet its compliance requirements.

As more organizations continue to work remotely, they are relying on texting and email as means of communication.

For organizations that work in healthcare, it is important to determine if the communication tool they use is HIPAA compliant. HIPAA compliant texting and email are discussed below.

An essential component of HIPAA is ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected health information (PHI). This includes PHI communicated via texting and email.

For HIPAA compliant texting and email, there are certain measures that must be implemented.

HIPAA Compliant Texting. 

Traditional texting platforms are not HIPAA compliant as they cannot be encrypted. Encryption masks sensitive data so that it is unreadable to unauthorized users. As such, they cannot be used in conjunction with PHI.

Traditional texting platforms can only be used for patient communication with prior authorization from the patient. In addition to written consent, the covered entity (CE) must issue a warning to the patient to let them know that text messaging is not a secure form of communication, the warning must also be documented.

However, this authorization extends to provider and patient communication, the provider may not communicate PHI through text message to a party other than the patient. Text messaging can also be used to send patient appointment reminders and under certain circumstances, during a natural disaster. 

If your organization prefers to communicate PHI through text messaging, there are HIPAA compliant texting platforms. These platforms are specially designed for the medical field. As such, they include all of the required security measures, and they are willing to sign a business associate agreement (BAA).

 HIPAA Compliant Email. 

To use email for communication in compliance with HIPAA, the email provider must enable encryption.

When sending email attachments with PHI, the attachments must also be encrypted. However, PHI cannot be contained in an email subject line, as this information cannot be encrypted. Before using email to communicate PHI, you must have a signed BAA with your email provider.

Even with encryption enabled, using email to communicate PHI still poses a risk. This is why providers must receive patient authorization and issue a warning before using email to communicate PHI to a patient.

What most represents your healthcare organization?

Is it the building itself? The doctors? A logo? Your list of services or products? Or is it something more than that?

We believe your branding is more than just a logo. For a healthcare organization, good branding typically reflects the way you make people feel. A good starting point for developing your brand is focusing on the “after.” What kind of relief, peace of mind, or outcome can someone expect when they choose you for care or treatment?

Of course, your logo and colors are important and can help patients remember your brand. But the branding itself is something much more. Your profile image, cover image, and posts should reflect who you are, as a brand—and that’s more than just a logo.

When you’re building out a company Facebook page from scratch, chances are you’re doing it on a desktop computer. It’s easy to forget that most people are actually accessing your page from their mobile devices.

In fact, around 80% of social media usage occurs on a mobile device. The way an image shows up on a desktop computer may not be the same way it shows up on a smartphone—particularly with the cover image.

When text or imagery spans to the edges of a wide photo, it’s often cut off in a mobile device. This is true for both Facebook and Twitter. The best way to find out? Download the apps on your phone to test mobile friendliness.

Not sure what to say next on your Twitter or Facebook feed? We recommend following the 80/20 rule: posts should be 80% informative and 20% promotional.

Four out of every five posts should inform, entertain, or educate. You might share articles from your own blog or a reputable news site. You might provide a helpful health or nutrition tip or information about a particular condition (provided it’s not too graphic). You could even share healthy recipes.

Organically posting on Facebook every week is a great way to build your brand—but it’s tough to reach many people this way. Organic social media posts really only reach people who are already following you on social media. While a few large healthcare related accounts see a large following, many pages are made up of a few satisfied patients, employees, and their friends and families.

No successful social media plan is complete without paid advertising. Paid social media posts can reach well beyond your current following. You can advertise to thousands and thousands of people, using custom audiences to narrow down on your ideal patients.

Many people believe they are advertising on Facebook when they use the “Boosted Post” feature. But this isn’t the same thing. It does not allow you to hone in on a custom audience in the same way a Facebook ad does. In truth, building and testing ads is a difficult job for someone on your team who is accustomed to organic Facebook posting. We recommend hiring out for help from a reputable agency with social media ad experience.

Finally, it’s very important that both promotional posts and paid social media advertisements appeal to your target audience. It’s easier said than done.

First, think carefully about the copywriting within the post or ad. Does the copy offer benefit to the patient? Ask yourself: why should a patient choose my practice, hospital, or organization over any other? Take a look at these two copy examples:

Which of these two messages give you confidence in this new spine center?

Your imagery should offer benefit to the patient as well. Of course, it’s important to test and retest your images to find out what works with your audience. But in general, a picture of a person in obvious pain won’t be as effective as an image of someone who has found relief. Patients want to see the “after” rather than the “before.”

There is a growing divide between patients and providers over medical billing. While patient surveys repeatedly cite online accessibility and ease of billing as top concerns, most healthcare providers are not working to address those concerns.

A February article in BeckersHospitalReview found that upgrading digital payment tools was not a priority for most healthcare providers. A separate survey found that 79 percent of patients “consider the billing and payment experience” when choosing a healthcare provider.

StrongBox eSolution, based in Boca Raton, FL, is working to bridge the patient/provide divide by addressing the needs of patients while providing innovating solutions for providers through our cloud-based revenue cycle management software and patient financing solutions.

What Poll Results Tell Us About Patient Expectations

A recent report by Patientco surveyed more than 50 providers at large health systems that had more
than 350 beds and 200 patients on average. Here are their findings.

The patients have spoken. Affordability and ease of access are top priorities for patients, even if those concerns aren’t always shared by providers. So how can your private practice, MSO, or  medical/dental group begin to bridge the divide and benefit from a more efficient billing system? Simple. By using StrongBox eSolutions, our platform as a service offers two benefits that serve both your patients and your bottom line.

StrongBox eSolutions Services
StrongBox creates a win-win for both providers and patients. Your patients will receive a streamlined
billing and payment experience. We offer two financing options (Select and Pro) that will  provide your
patients with:

As a provider, you will receive an enhanced revenue profile and a lower risk profile.  StrongBox efficiency creation helps create a better patient experience, which in turn leads to higher patient
satisfaction and higher patient retention.

Providers also benefit from our interactive Dashboard, which tracks Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
such as:

You can view KPIs on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Plus, we offer a 12-month revenue
snapshot that can be used to compare profitability with prior years. Any reports that are not built-in can
be added by using our software’s custom reporting tools.

Learn How StrongBox eSolutions Services Is Bridging the Patients/Provider Divide

Nearly 80 percent of patients consider billing options when choosing their healthcare provider. When patients are empowered to handle their own billing and financing, patient payment compliance rises and delinquent payments drop. Our online Patient Payment Portal is designed with this in mind.

By partnering with our online services, you will be sending the message that your business is listening and addressing those concerns. To learn more about our services, contact our team online or call our Boca Raton, FL office at (855) 468-7876.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created in 1996 to modernize the flow of healthcare information. It stipulates how all personal data maintained by the healthcare and healthcare insurance industries should be protected from fraud and theft. It also addresses limitations on healthcare insurance coverage.

All healthcare and healthcare insurance industries are required to comply with HIPAA guidelines and can expect to be audited by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), an organization within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).

HIPAA compliance should be taken very seriously, as violations can carry civil or even criminal penalties, not to mention the huge impact a data breach has on a company’s credibility.

Here are a few tips to help you make this process as simple and as smooth as possible.

Technology has changed tremendously since 1996 and this led to an adjustment of HIPAA guidelines in 2013.

Now, 7 years later, data storage and data security protocols are still undergoing massive changes, so it is important to keep your policies up to date. Implementing small changes every year is significantly less costly than waiting to implement huge changes when they are inevitable.

It is important to remember that auditors will be looking for compliance not only within your organization, but also with any partner you work with. This applies to any business associate of yours that has access to or may come in contact with patients’ personal data.

Some examples are lawyers, accountants, IT contractors, billing companies, cloud storage services, receptionists, etc. So make sure you check that all your business associates are compliant with HIPAA and that they maintain that status as well.

Employee education and constant training is a big part of ensuring that your company is HIPAA compliant.

The best way to go about this is to have a plan in place on how you want to approach this training, keeping in mind that this will need to be an ongoing situation. The most important thing is to make sure that employees know how to keep data protected.

It is a great idea to assign an employee to be the security officer in charge of your HIPAA compliance program.

This will help you stay compliant and they are also critical whenever your company gets audited or you suffer from a data breach since they will be responsible for calling any third-party vendors to help you solve your issue.

From the moment an employee captures personal data, up until it is stored in a local or virtual server, you should take the necessary steps to ensure that this data is protected at all times. Auditing the path the data takes makes it easier to identify and eliminate all weak points that are vulnerable to breaches.

The first step is to implement a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that ensures that all communication within your network is encrypted and secure.

Other measures to keep in mind are encrypting all communication that happens outside of your secure network, this means all billing communications, emails, instant messages, and even fax machines must be protected. Testing the robustness of your security is a must to ensure that data is safe.

Any time protected information falls into the hands of an unintended, not necessarily malicious, party constitutes a breach. Even if this data is encrypted and useless for anyone without the proper decryption keys, this is still a breach and it should be documented as such and the reason why it occurred should be addressed immediately.

This is where having all your policies and procedures up to date will help everybody know exactly what to do once a breach is identified.

Having a plan that details how all breaches are reported to your HIPAA security officer is required by the HIPAA Security Rule. So make sure everybody knows how to report breaches immediately after finding any.

There are many ways of storing sensitive data, from paper to removable usb drives and beyond, and all this information can be hard to keep in one place. That is why it is important to consolidate all data storage in order to make it easier for you to ensure that all of it is safe.

Once you are fully compliant with HIPAA guidelines, it is a great idea to form a compliance committee that meets periodically (generally once each quarter) to ensure that you stay compliant.

It is clear that HIPAA guidelines are important to consider when hiring an external service, such as a live receptionist service to make sure all of your business calls are answered in a professional way, schedule appointments on your behalf, and protect your time from pesky robot calls or solicitors.

When you hire phone.com’s live receptionist services you can rest assured that all of our live receptionists are HIPAA compliant.

As the spread of the coronavirus seems to be slowing, many people are preparing to get back to life as usual.

Consumers are anxiously awaiting the reopening of the country, with some states further along than others. The goal is to safely reopen retail stores, restaurants, and theme parks.

This has led some of these establishments to require proof of negative COVID-19 test results, causing many consumers to cry HIPAA violation. Is this a HIPAA violation? HIPAA and coronavirus privacy is discussed below.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused many businesses to reevaluate how well they are protecting consumers.

Many businesses have increased cleaning protocols to prevent the spread of the virus, as well as implemented new standards for consumers entering the establishments.

Several businesses are requiring employees and consumers to wear masks, are conducting temperature checks on anyone entering the business, and requiring proof of negative COVID-19 test results. These new requirements have many consumers concerned that their privacy rights under HIPAA are being violated.

HIPAA established industry standards for the privacy of protected health information (PHI). Under HIPAA, coronavirus test results are considered PHI. As PHI, covered entities and business associates cannot disclose a patient’s coronavirus test results outside of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. 

But what about during a global pandemic? These entities are permitted to disclose coronavirus test results to public health authorities for the purpose of public safety.

This is to notify people who may have come into contact with a coronavirus positive patient. However, disclosed information must only be the minimum necessary information to accomplish the purpose of the disclosure.

Consumer businesses such as retail stores, restaurants, and theme parks are neither covered entities nor business associates. Since they are neither covered entities or business associates, these establishments do not fall under the jurisdiction of HIPAA law.

As such, they can ask patrons for proof of negative COVID-19 test results, without fear of violating HIPAA, before they are permitted entry to these establishments. 

The world now revolves around the internet, and social media has become the American national pastime, or so it seems. Every industry in the US has been in some way, shape or form molded and shifted by the internet and social media alike.

A simple post can alter the way an entire population views a particular issue or company, for better or worse. According to the World Bank, the healthcare industry occupies 10 percent of the global GDP and 17 percent of the United States GDP.

Over $7 trillion is spent per year globally. With such a crucial influence already, the healthcare industry must look at the impact it can have online and social media, alike.

According to a new survey from the tech analyst company ReportLinker, 46 percent of Americans admitted to checking their smartphones before they even get out of bed in the morning. No surprise to most, the guiltiest of them all is the generation Z (ages 18 to 24-years-old), 66 percent exactly, who reach for their smartphones before they rise out of the covers.

These statistics are not shocking to most reading this article. They could be reading this article from their smartphones.

With technology just at our fingertips, if we do not know something, we can google it for the correct answer. This can be said for where consumers seek healthcare information as well.

Nineteen percent of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. Exercise, diet, and weight apps are the most popular types.

Consumers heavily rely on information found online and use the internet to gather healthcare information and connect with other patients to garner support and learn about similar conditions.

Patients also tend to seek information via social media that assists in the selection of doctors, specialists, and hospitals to make informed decisions on the best practices to seek care.

With nearly every patient holding onto their smartphones so tightly, googling every symptom for answers before they consult with their physician, it has become imperative for healthcare organizations to be active on social media and to provide accurate information on their websites. Every footprint left online aids in connecting with the patients and clients alike.

Apple, Inc., can attest to this idea with their launch into healthcare ventures in March of 2018.

The release of the Apple Health Record and the Apple Watch health features made them a contender in the market, and according to the CEO, Tim Cook, this is only the start. Apple is an expert when it comes to marketing its brand through multiple mediums, naturally online, and through social media.

However, curiously enough, Apple does not use social media as most companies would. The tech giant does not need any further exposure.

In the US, currently, 45.1 percent of smartphone users own an iPhone. Having that large of a market share only benefits Apple as they move into the healthcare industry.

As of 2018, over 120 healthcare institutions are a part of Apple’s health record beta, including Adventist Health System, Mount Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, LabCorp, and more. The company is also reportedly working with startup Health Gorilla, which helps doctors order and ingest lab test data.

Social media is a great tool for healthcare organizations. It is no longer an option to use social media in healthcare; it is mandatory to remain relevant. However, healthcare organizations need to be smart about how they embark on this endeavor.

Patients and providers need to have positive and accurate exchanges of information. It can be used as a medium primarily for community engagement activities such as fundraising, customer service, and support, the provision of news and information, patient education, and advertising new services. Social media is like a referral site on steroids.

Through social interactions, patients can develop a first impression of a hospital and/or physician. The healthcare organization’s branding online has never been more critical.

If healthcare organizations are not engaging with the community they serve on every social media platform; then they will inevitably fall behind. An organization’s marketing department has access to a multitude of tools and has access to analytics that can identify which platforms work the best and the best times to post to maximize the exposure to the community.

n 2017 alone there were more than 330 data breaches in the US medical and healthcare sector, which exposed 4.93 million patient records.

What’s more, data breaches in the healthcare sector are among the most costly with the average breach costing $408 per stolen record. In comparison, the global average of other industries across the world is $148 per record. The medical and healthcare industry in the United States is particularly vulnerable to data breaches. Here are a few reasons why:

Chances are you don’t want to spend $50,000 or more in fines for a HIPAA violation, so it’s more critical than ever for you and your healthcare organization to implement the required cybersecurity protocols to ensure you’re protecting sensitive patient data from cybercriminals and hacks.

Here’s how you can improve your IT security and make sure you’re implementing healthcare security best practices.

One of the best ways to prevent the risk of data breaches is to make sure all employees and contractors receive the training they need to meet HIPAA requirements and keep data safe.

A proper employee training program will include factors such as:

What’s more, your training program should go beyond initial training to provide frequent updates to your employees so they can stay on top of the latest trends and threats.

Want to save your organization thousands of dollars every year? A study by Ponemon Institute discovered that IT teams wasted 425 hours per week trying to solve false negatives and false positives. Healthcare organizations saved an average of $2.1 million yearly by implementing a system where IT teams were able to evaluate security posture in real time, patch all devices for known vulnerabilities, and proactively address emerging threats with data controls and/or patch distribution. This also increases your chances of preventing the risk of an expensive cyber-attack.

Since many healthcare organizations are decentralized, it can be more difficult to coordinate software patching and updates. To make sure software updates are fast but thorough, leverage the power of automation where possible to eliminate any vulnerabilities a cybercriminal might exploit.

Even though employee training is critical, ensuring that your employees can only access sensitive or critical data on a need-to-know basis is another healthcare security best practice.

All data should be stored in a centralized location that is protected by a role-based access control system. Those with access should only see what they need to do their jobs and once the information is no longer required access should be removed automatically.

Moreover, technologies should be implemented to track and analyze data access as a way to spot suspicious activities.

To comply with HIPAA Security, you must have a disaster recovery plan in place and ways to recover and maintain ePHI (electronic Protected Health Information) in case of an emergency. That means you should be backing up all files regularly so data restoration can be quick and easy. A good rule of thumb is to back up your data both locally and remotely (ex: on a recovery disc as well as on a cloud-based server) and you should aim to store all backed-up information away from the main system whenever possible.

Data encryption makes sensitive information unreadable, which makes it much harder for cybercriminals to gain access to that data even if a network is hacked or a mobile device is missing or stolen.

It’s also important to make sure that all data is encrypted not only when it is at rest (being stored) but also when it is in motion (ex: sending an email). This way sensitive information is protected at all times.

Since the healthcare industry is one of the most frequent targets for cybercriminals and one of the most expensive when it comes to addressing a data breach, it’s vital to implement these healthcare security best practices and stay on top of the latest trends in IT security. Help your organization avoid the risk of data breaches and costly fines and give yourself peace of mind knowing that all HIPAA requirements are being met and your patients can trust their sensitive information in your hands.

Following these tips will help keep your healthcare company safe and reduce the risk of expensive cybersecurity threats.