HIPAA Insights: Navigating Compliance in Healthcare

We live in a hyper-connected society. Almost everyone we know has a cell phone, tablet, or computer — maybe all and more. These devices are designed to make our day-to-day activities more efficient and enjoyable. While healthcare is rarely an enjoyable experience, there are always means that can be used to make it more comfortable. One of those solutions comes with improved technology that allows patients and providers to communicate and share data with speed and ease. The most common way improved communication occurs between both parties is through personal electronic devices, like smartphones. Although this sounds like a great idea, it has not exactly taken off. This is mainly because HIPAA still applies.

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Drugs destroy lives. America is in the middle of a drug addiction epidemic. Over 1 million people have died from overdoses in 20 years, since the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started recording overdose deaths in 1999.

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Rising data breaches in healthcare have paved the way for compliance laws to keep patients' medical data secure. Thousands of healthcare providers in the US are now legally required to adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, they need to use HIPAA-compliant technologies when corresponding with clients and patients online. 

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In industries across the spectrum, cloud computing is far outpacing physical storage infrastructure. It may provide you a sense of security knowing your data is physically on-site, however, these systems often take up valuable space, are easily compromised (including physical theft), and cost a fortune to maintain. The cloud is a "new" technology that provides an efficient working model that is secure for any industry, especially those that house sensitive data like governments, financial institutions, and healthcare.

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Sometimes, information not intended to be public knowledge is inadvertently shared with others. Just as easily as it can happen in a casual conversation with a friend, it can also happen in the workplace. So, what is an incidental disclosure? The incidental disclosure definition, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a, "disclosure that cannot reasonably be prevented, is limited in nature, and that occurs as a result of another use or disclosure that is permitted by the Rule." What happens when there is an incidental disclosure in a healthcare setting? There is not a clear-cut answer. It simply depends on the magnitude of the situation. In general, healthcare settings are fluid environments. That means that a patient overhearing another patient's diagnosis or a visitor catching a glimpse of a screen with some personal health information (PHI) is not common grounds to facilitate a HIPAA violation. 

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Organizations in the healthcare field will be familiar with HIPAA, formally known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Signed into law in 1996, it sets a national standard for protecting personal health information (PHI). It ensures that patients know how their information is stored and shared through consultation and consent. According to the HIPAA Journal, in the twelve months leading up to October 2023, there were 678 reported data breaches that contained 500 or more records across the country. There is room for improvement in protecting sensitive PHI, especially when dealing with large databases.

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With the development of many software applications and web-based platforms, it is now easy to access healthcare facilities and information electronically. Gone are the days where patients had to wait for a long time to even get an appointment. Now it is a matter of minutes to get an appointment, purchase insurance, get access to health reports and other data online.

But with the development of new and sophisticated technology, these software apps and web-based platforms face security threats along the way. Because of these security threats, there is a need to implement rules and regulations to make sure that the technology is not misused. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) introduced in 1996 is a standard created to ensure that the privacy and health details of the patient are safe at all times and would not be disclosed to anyone without the consent of the patient.

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We have compiled a list of the top HIPAA-compliant messaging apps which provide concise descriptions and key features, assisting healthcare practices and systems in maintaining patient data securely and providing a better patient experience in the ever changing nature of healthcare technology.

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The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA) is Canada's federal law on patient privacy (Canada equivalent of HIPAA). It is comparable to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, however, there are a few key differences to be aware of.

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