Why You Need a HIPAA IT Strategy

HIPAA Compliance for your IT systems is not optional

The choice of what medical treatment we receive is a respected human right. The right to privacy and control for our health care is an established American value. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly referred to as HIPAA, set out the legal requirements for healthcare providers to protect the privacy of their patients when handling protected health information (PHI). Violating these laws can have disastrous legal and financial consequences for an organization, regardless whether the breach was intentional, accidental, an act of omission, or even if it was perpetrated by a malicious outside third party. Lionsoft Media Group has the expertise to guide you through compliance with HIPAA cyber security guidance.

Every health care professional knows to wash their hands before and after seeing a patient, but what are they expected to do when handling a patient’s information? The federal laws governing HIPAA are 138 pages long! (Source) You cannot tackle them alone, and your privacy officer may not be able to handle the complex technical requirements surrounding electronic protected health information (e-PHI).

Do not leave your HIPAA compliance up to chance! Federal agencies perform regular audits of providers. You need to act before an auditor comes knocking to fully protect yourself. We are the e-PHI experts, and will help you sort through the cyber security guidelines, so you are fully prepared in the event of an audit.

Cyber criminals are frequently targeting medical providers. These attacks can cripple your business and may leave you legally responsible for a HIPAA information leak. Any doctor will tell you that regular checkups are an important part of preventing disease and identifying existing conditions. Lionsoft Media group can give you a cyber security checkup to help prevent attacks before they happen and identify any weaknesses in your computer security strategy.

You treat your patients with care and respect; we will help you show the same level of care for their health information. We can perform a full assessment of your IT controls and procedures to ensure that you are doing everything possible to protect your customers, and yourself from accidents and attack. Additionally, we can provide on-going compliance monitoring to ensure you are alerted to any threats before they happen.

The Very real consequences of HIPAA non-compliance:

• Federal Investigation – The US Federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) handles investigations into HIPAA complaints.
• Formal Violation – An OCR issued formal violation requires remediation by the provider and supporting documentation of changed business practices.
• Public notification of breach – Don’t be frontline news due to carelessness. All cases affecting more than 500 individuals must be publicly reported.
• Fines – Even unknowingly violating a HIPAA regulation can carry a fine of up to $50,000. Some fines go up to $1.5 Million a year! (Source)
• Legal Liability – Criminal violations are referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution. These can entail a fine and up to 5 years in prison.
• Loss of Trust – While it is easy to fixate on the legal consequences, your professional responsibility is to care for your patients. Do not violate their trust, and lose business, through unsafe HIPAA practices.

HIPAA Violations at a glance:

• Total HIPAA fines: $128,155,082 (Source)
• Total HIPAA cases sent for criminal prosecution: 945 (Source)
• 2019 Total HIPAA complaints: 29,853 (Source)
• Current HIPPA Cases currently under investigation in Texas affecting over 500 People: 53 (Source)
• Percent of HIPPA cases in Texas requiring corrective action: 28% (Source)