May 25, 2023 By: Durgesh Verma
Patient data is at the heart of healthcare, and safeguarding its security is absolutely critical. To ensure patient privacy remains consistently protected, organizations in this field must meet two major frameworks: HITRUST and HIPAA. Compliance with these controls helps uphold quality assurance while protecting patients’ sensitive information from unauthorized access.
Compliance automation ensures that checks and audits can be conducted with minimal effort and resources, enabling organizations to reach full compliance in a more efficient manner.
Healthcare Data Transformation-enabled Solutions ensure that HITRUST & HIPAA standards are met for secure access to data via automated solutions. These tools replace manual paperwork processes with digitally-enabled transformation methods – all while meeting stringent compliance requirements and certifications.
HIPAA and HITRUST – A Brief Overview
HIPAA is a complex federal law that sets the standard for healthcare organizations to protect sensitive patient data. This is a combination of many different frameworks including ISO, NIST, and PCI DSS which can make meeting HIPAA expectations an uphill task. On the other hand, HITRUST is dedicated to safeguarding sensitive information such as electronically Protected Health Information (ePHI). To provide an additional layer of protection for the healthcare industry, they created The Common Security Framework (CSF), which harmonizes multiple standards, including ISO, NIST, and HIPAA, among others – ensuring that all voids left by these regulations are filled.
Why Do Healthcare Providers Need to Comply with HIPAA and HITRUST Regulations?
Below are some reasons why it is important for HCPs to comply with HIPAA and HITRUST regulations:
Establishing the groundwork for data protection
HIPAA regulations provide essential safeguards for sensitive data, yet they do not adequately account for increasingly sophisticated security threats. The risk of impending data breaches remains high without a comprehensive approach tailored specifically toward evolving threats and liabilities.
Not only must the regulations put in place robust safeguards to protect their patient’s health information against exposure, thefts, and natural disasters, but they can also ensure that the technology they use is secure enough to avoid any data breaches.
Establishing a strict cybersecurity standard
As per research from IBM Security, in their “Cost of Data Breach Report,” the cost associated with data breaches in the healthcare sector can be astronomical—reaching nearly 30% annually. Compliance with these strict standards goes beyond maintaining employees’ security protocols, as it involves validating their IT systems against recognized standards.
Furthermore, continuous compliance means building an infrastructure-wide approach that helps healthcare organizations proactively strengthen the security of their compliance management system for healthcare while providing them with the assurance necessary to confidently manage third-party risk and minimize financial penalties that can arise if exposed HIPAA and HITRUST requirements are not met.
All in all, healthcare providers need to adhere to HIPAA and HITRUST regulations to maintain trust within their organization as well as demonstrate strong patient privacy practices in order to protect vulnerable healthcare data from falling into malicious hands.
Transforming Compliance in Healthcare through Hyperautomation and Data Analytics
Healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to protect patient data. Healthcare compliance solutions powered by AI have been designed with institutions in mind, providing a convenient and efficient way for them to adhere to the necessary laws and regulations – all while optimizing auditing capabilities of sensitive information such as hospitals.
With automation models now available more than ever before, these tools are becoming increasingly invaluable assets within the industry. In addition to synthesizing established compliance metrics, healthcare compliance automation can generate reporting dashboards that demonstrate a more holistic and consistent view of compliance risks across a healthcare organization.
Let’s look at some benefits of healthcare compliance solutions:
- Reduce violation penalties
The cost of non-compliance to HIPAA regulations can be severe, making it critical for healthcare players to take proactive measures. HIPAA compliance automation offers an effective way of ensuring due diligence and reducing the risk of human error in meeting these mandates. Even if a data breach inadvertently occurs, taking proper steps toward disclosure could make all the difference when mitigating fines or penalties incurred as a result.
- Implement effective internal audits
To avoid a cumbersome government audit, healthcare organizations should proactively put in place measures to ensure continuous compliance with HIPAA, HITRUST, etc. Self-assessment systems can help organizations stay ahead of the curve by regularly assessing their policies and procedures for adherence to these laws – helping them maintain regulatory guidelines.
- Centralize information and processes
With healthcare compliance automation making way for a central location to store all relevant information, it’s easier than ever before for providers to assess their risk posture and ensure they are adhering to regulatory standards. To take things even further, a compliance management system for healthcare allows for steps such as control monitoring 24/7, security awareness training, and establishing policy centers to help guarantee ongoing healthcare compliance success.
As Health and Human Services (HHS) keep organizations informed on the ever-evolving HIPAA requirements, Office of Civil Rights guidance provides essential implementation details. Navigating through this complex legislation requires an acute awareness of its nuances to protect against legal risks.
In a powerful partnership, HIPAA and HITRUST compliance automation have come together to support compliance management systems for healthcare in their mission of providing the best quality patient care. Streamlined workflows such as risk assessments, testing, and control evaluations guarantee that hospitals avoid costly penalties or fines due to manual dependency errors. This freedom from tedious tasks enables a more strategic focus for the compliance team; namely drafting policies that aim towards improved patient care. JK Tech’s managed service assists in staying abreast with current regulations, thereby mitigating associated liabilities under HIPAA law. It aggregates evidences from various systems and processes centrally and continuously enabling clients manage risk and prove compliance. Along with this, it also flags compliance anomalies to the client in near real time by configurable notification methods.
