• Blog
  • Services
    • PHIshMD Ongoing Training
    • HIPAA Compliance
    • Discover Vulnerabilities to Patient PHI
  • Store
    • HIPAA Secure Now Service Store
  • Contact Us
    • Sales Inquiry
    • Customer Support
  • Resources
    • Free Healthcare Security Check Up Quiz
    • HIPAA Compliance Requirements | A Guide
    • Webinars & Downloadable Content
    • Use our free Breach Cost Calculator
    • HIPAA Secured Seal
    • In-Email Training & Analysis | Catch Phish

Call us at: 877-275-4545

Client or Partner? Login here
HIPAA Secure Now!HIPAA Secure Now!
  • Blog
  • Services
    • PHIshMD Ongoing Training
    • HIPAA Compliance
    • Discover Vulnerabilities to Patient PHI
  • Store
    • HIPAA Secure Now Service Store
  • Contact Us
    • Sales Inquiry
    • Customer Support
  • Resources
    • Free Healthcare Security Check Up Quiz
    • HIPAA Compliance Requirements | A Guide
    • Webinars & Downloadable Content
    • Use our free Breach Cost Calculator
    • HIPAA Secured Seal
    • In-Email Training & Analysis | Catch Phish

HIPAA compliance is a business risk

October 19, 2015 Posted by Art Gross HIPAA, Risk Assessment No Comments

Risky-Business

Medicine is Risky

The practice of medicine is a risky business. There is always the risk that a certain treatment will fail to help a patient. There is a risk of being accused of malpractice. There is a risk of being accused of incorrectly billing a patient, insurance company or government agency. There is a risk of being sued by an employee or ex-employee for HR related issues. The list of risks goes on and on.

Healthcare is not unique when it comes to risk. Lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers all have associated business risk. In fact, it can be argued that every business has associated risk. The risk of a business failing is with every business no matter what vertical that business operates in. Just ask Enron and RadioShack and Joe’s pizza.

Manage Risk

The key to business risk is how an organization manages the risk. Healthcare organizations have malpractice insurance which usually comes with a malpractice risk management program. The program identifies areas of risk, provides steps to reduce risk and defines steps to minimize impact of losses when they occur (PDF)

Risk management refers to strategies that reduce and minimize the possibility of an adverse outcome, harm, or a loss. The systematic gathering and utilization of data are essential to loss prevention. Good risk management techniques improve the quality of patient care and reduce the probability of an adverse outcome or a medical malpractice claim. This core curriculum outlines the attitudes, knowledge, and skills currently recommended for residents in the area of risk management. The primary goal of a successful risk management is to reduce untoward events to patients. Risk management programs are designed to reduce the risk to patients and resulting liability to the health care provider. Standard of care is the foundation for risk management. The main factors in risk management include the following.

Nonmedical and medical risk management is a three-step process which involves: 1) identifying risk; 2) avoiding or minimizing the risk of loss; and 3) reducing the impact of losses when they occur. Medical risk management focuses on risk reduction through improvement of patient care.

Patient Data Risk

The practice of creating, storing and accessing electronic patient data brings with it new risks to healthcare organizations. Sure in the past there was a risk of someone breaking into an office and stealing patients’ paper charts but the risk exponentially increases now that a majority of new patient data is electronic. All this data is spread across electronic health records (EHRs), patient portals, digital x-ray machines, email, desktops, laptops, USB drives, smartphones and tablets. There are risks of an employee mistake like losing a laptop with patient information or falling for a fake email that tricks them into giving up information that thieves can use to access and steal patient data.

Like any other business risk, the risk to patient data needs to be properly managed. Just like with a malpractice risk management program, the risk to patient data needs to be addresses with 3 steps:

  1. Identifying Risk – it is critical that organizations understand what risks are associated with electronic patient data. Where is the data stored or accessed? As mentioned previously, the data could be stored on servers in an office, in a cloud-based EHR, on laptops or mobile devices. It is critical to get a thorough inventory of all patient data that is created, stored or accessed. The next step is understanding the risk to all of this patient data. The risk to data stored on a digital ultrasound machine is much different than data stored on laptops that leave an office.
  2. Minimize Risk – once the various risks are identified to patient data, it is critical to take steps to reduce the risk. Implementing the proper safeguards such as security policies and procedures and employee training can go a long way to lower the risk to patient data.
  3. Reduce the Impact – unfortunately it is very difficult to eliminate the risk to patient data. Steps can be taken to lower the risk but the amount of patient data is increasing every day and the risk of employee mistakes or criminals stealing the data increases as well. Organizations need to have a plan in place to respond to a patient data breach. That plan may include a breach response program that defines the steps the organization will take if there is a breach, or ensuring that an organization’s IT department or company is prepared to respond and/or stop a suspected data breach. Reducing the impact of a patient data breach might include cyber insurance that will provide financial resources to help the organization in the event of a data breach.

Don’t Hate HIPAA

Many people I talk to tell me they hate HIPAA regulations. I don’t blame them. Most people don’t like forced government regulations that have the threat of audits and fines. But HIPAA regulations are really just a risk management program for patient data. HIPAA calls for organizations to take inventory of where patient information is created, stored or accessed. It requires organizations to identify and manage associated risk to patient data. And it calls for organizations to be prepared to respond and lower the impact if patient data is lost, stolen or breached. When compared to a malpractice risk management program, the HIPAA risk management program is very similar.

When I talk to people about HIPAA I make it clear that the risk of a random HIPAA audit is very low. But the risk that patient data is lost, stolen or breached is increasing every day. Patient data needs to be thought of as a business risk that needs to be properly managed.

Tags: AuditBreachHIPAA FineHIPAA InsuranceRisk Assessment
No Comments
Share
0

You also might be interested in

Introducing HIPAA Secure Now!

Feb 13, 2011

We are proud to announce the launch of the HIPAA[...]

Why perform a Risk Assessment?

Feb 15, 2011

A Risk Assessment is required in order to comply with[...]

Huge security breach fines coming in 2011

Feb 21, 2011

According the Health Data Management magazine, The HHS Office for[...]

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Recent Posts

  • HIPAA Security Policies
  • Restructuring the OCR
  • HIPAA: P for Portability
  • OCR Healthcare Report Released
  • HIPAA Compliance & Cybersecurity: How They Differ

Recent Comments

  • Milan on PHI or PII – What’s the Difference?
  • Automatic Backlinks on Free HIPAA Security Training!
  • Lisa Porter on Free HIPAA Security Training!
  • Roseanne ruiz on Health Apps & HIPAA
  • Roseanne ruiz on PHI or PII – What’s the Difference?

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011

Categories

  • Backup & Disaster Recovery
  • Business Associates
  • Client News
  • Download
  • Healthcare Industry
  • HIPAA
  • HIPAA Audits
  • HIPAA Violations
  • HSN News
  • Legal
  • MACRA
  • Policies and Procedures
  • Press Release
  • Remote Workforce
  • Risk Assessment
  • Scams
  • Security
  • Security Reminders
  • Security Training
  • Telehealth
  • Uncategorized
  • Webinar
  • Website

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Contact Us

  • HIPAA Secure Now
  • 55 Madison Ave, Suite 400 Morristown, NJ 07960
  • (877) 275 - 4545
  • info@hipaasecurenow.com

Find us on Social Media

Recent Posts

  • HIPAA Security Policies March 21, 2023
  • Restructuring the OCR March 14, 2023
  • HIPAA: P for Portability March 7, 2023
  • OCR Healthcare Report Released February 28, 2023
  • HIPAA Compliance & Cybersecurity: How They Differ February 21, 2023

Subscribe to our Newsletter

  • Hidden

© 2023 · HIPAA Secure Now!

Prev Next