The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates that all health care organizations and other institutions that transmit protected information of patients should take suitable measures to safeguard it. Electronic devices like computers are used for storage and transmission purposes and you will need to ensure that all the guidelines relating to use of computers in HIPAA are followed.

You will also be able to detect any violation easily when you use technology to safeguard the confidential information of patients. There are very stringent penalties for any violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Irrespective of whether the violation is intentional or unintentional the penalties can include fines and imprisonment.

What Are The Top 6 Steps To Implement Information Technology Regulations Of HIPAA?

1. All organizations that are classified as covered entities will need to have procedures in place to help prevent any unauthorized access to confidential information of patients. This can be done with the use of technology and access to the information will be provided depending on the role of the employee in storing and transmitting information.

2. There should be a firewall to block unauthorized access and anti-virus systems should also be installed at all the computer workstations to ensure that data is not accessed from outside. The hardware and software that needs to be used on the computers should also be checked periodically.

3. Every time the medical records are accessed it should generate a log as to who has accessed it and for what purpose. This will help in keeping a control on the number of times that a patient’s medical record is accessed.

4. The security of the data that is been transmitted electronically can be further enhanced by encrypting it. This will ensure that even if the data had been accessed in an unauthorized way, it cannot be read due to the encryption. All files sent through emails can also be password protected.

5. Each employee who accesses the protected information needs to be provided with a password for authorized access. Apart from this there can also be biometric authentication that will help restrict the access to unauthorized individuals.

6. There are some organizations that have also started implementing digital signatures to further authenticate the data that is been accessed. All these measures are done to further strengthen the security of medical records of patients.

A systematic use of technology will help in implementing various measures for the safeguarding of confidential information of patients. The use of technology will ensure that even if the employee is not at their designated place the information can still be safe as it is password protected.

All the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will need to be followed and technology will play a big role in it. You will also be able to detect any breach of security with the prudent use of technology. This will help in implementing better safety measures. Most of the organizations that store and transmit protected information of patients have this safety measures in place for better compliance of HIPAA.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Certification website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Certification website http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-certification.html

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our HIPAA Certification website.

Category: Medical Business
Keywords: health care organizations ,HIPAA,Health Insurance ,HIPAA Compliant,HIPAA Privacy Rule