Delivery quality patient care and keeping patient information private is no easy task. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, often referred to as the HITECH Act, is a law passed in 2009 that encourages healthcare providers to adopt electronic health records. The law includes significant privacy and security provisions. But healthcare companies have been slow to adopt EHRs, so patient records still move through traditional channels – such as electronic data exchanges – without the level of security and protection they deserve. It also means tougher fines and accountability for providers.

The basics of EHR and HITECH Act

The healthcare industry is growing rapidly this growth has raised concerns over cybersecurity and the potential for personal information to be lost or compromised. To help improve the overall cybersecurity of the healthcare sector, the government passed the HITECH. This acts to improve the security practices at healthcare institutions by requiring security clearances for employees working with patient data, increasing training for healthcare workers on cybersecurity measures, and creating a centralized hub for reporting security incidents.

Security methods to protect your patients’ records
Many healthcare providers and insurance companies collect sensitive patient data for one reason or another. It can be to help improve services. It can be to ensure the protection of personal health information. In the modern healthcare environment, data security is an issue that requires all stakeholders to work together. The risks of a data breach are greatest when there is confusion or lack of awareness between industry participants.

Cybersecurity Challenges In Healthcare

Data privacy is becoming more and more of an issue as people use more technology to access healthcare information. Hospitals are not keeping up with the demand for electronic health records (EHRs) and Medicaid providers are not using the most current EHR software. The American Medical Association has called on states to establish a single electronic health record system by 2021 for easier access and enhanced security features.

Healthcare providers are not covered by HIPAA if the data is stored on-premises
People are increasingly getting their healthcare information from a variety of sources, which makes it more important that we protect the privacy of data we possess. HIPAA, the healthcare protection act, limits who can maintain a privacy interest in healthcare records. The industry has developed strategies to comply with the law, but there is always the possibility that a record could be lost or compromised in transit or while being transferred from one provider to another. The best way to ensure the security of your patient healthcare data is by implementing effective data security measures.
We help healthcare providers protect the privacy of their patient records. The best way to ensure the safety of your patient records is to keep them in a secure location. We keep data secure and compliant with HIPAA standards while ensuring maximum transmission speed and efficiency.

The Walgreens breach shows that even multi-billion companies can’t protect their customers from identity theft because of a flaw in software they purchased. the worst thing about the Walgreens data breach is that it’s all too easily exposed to hackers. It’s not just that they got access to names, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive data that could allow them to access back doors into customers’ medical data or financial information. Worse yet, they were able to gain access to data that could have been used to rip customers off or scam them out of money they were desperate to save.

Security needs to improve

Cybersecurity is a growing and complex problem. To make matters worse, the cost of protecting yourself has gone up, along with the sophistication of attacks. There are many different threats out there, both known and unknown. HIPAA requires a contingency plan that includes data backup and disaster recovery procedures.

HIPPA Compliance

HIPPA compliance services help you to understand your obligations under HIPAA and ensure that adequate backup and recovery procedures are in place should disaster occur. The services also help prevent patient data loss. HIPAA compliance is changing the way our healthcare system works. It provides fundamental healthcare privacy protections for individuals at all times and requires certain steps be taken by doctors and insurers before they can share patient data with 3rd parties or install devices on patients mobile devices.

Is your medical data safe? Contact CNG IT, to help you with compliance, backup and recovery services so you can know that your data is safe and secure.