Offering HIPAA Compliance As A Service: A How-To Guide

By | August 13, 2015

The health care industry has seen big changes over the past couple of decades due to the enactment of HIPAA in 1996. These changes have not only raised the bar on how best to safeguard PHI, but it has also provided lots of business opportunities for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Organizations that deal with PHI and EHR in any way, however, face the daunting task of becoming HIPAA compliant and staying compliant.

HIPAA is a complicated and sometimes confusing set of government mandates, and the thought of going it alone can be a bit intimidating for practices both large and small. The chief concern among healthcare professionals is the potential damage to the reputation of the organization in the event of a breach, not to mention the monetary penalties that can result from failing to achieve compliance.

 

Benefits of adding HIPAA compliance as a service (CaaS)

Perhaps the best reason for offering HIPAA compliance is the boost to your business’ bottom line. Adding HIPAA compliance as a service (CaaS) to your existing offerings gives an MSP the chance to provide additional services to your existing clients. HHS reports 70 % of the market are still not compliant so you will have plenty of chances to increase your profits.

Offering a HIPAA compliance service is also a great way to gain more healthcare-related accounts, all of which must satisfy the federal HIPAA regulation. It makes sense to make HIPAA compliance services available if you intend to capitalize on the ever-growing healthcare industry. In fact, failing to do so could cause potential new clients to pass your business over in favor of an MSP that does offer those types of services.

And once you have successfully helped doctors and other healthcare professionals achieve HIPAA compliance, you can build a reputation as the go-to company for anyone in your area that has concerns regarding compliance.

 

Are the business opportunities significant enough to pursue?

Absolutely. HIPAA compliance is a constant source of anxiety and frustration for many companies, and many of these businesses are simply not able to take on the process alone. An estimated 700,000 companies are required to be compliant with the law. That means MSPs have the chance to lend a much-needed hand to all of these potential new customers while paving the way for more business from these customers in the future.

 

How to get started?

Compliance can be complicated, but there is help to assist with the process of helping a client achieve, illustrate and maintain HIPAA, such as the cloud-based solution from Compliancy Group known as The Guard. With a tool such as this, you can offer HIPAA compliance as a service (CaaS) package providing customers with a simple solution to address all achieve HIPAA compliance. Once you have demonstrated a high level of knowledge and professionalism on the topic of HIPAA, customers are more likely to come to you with future needs and concerns. Lastly, you could offer your customers managed HIPAA compliance as a service (CaaS) , which could serve as a new source of revenue coming into your business each month. HIPAA compliance is an ongoing effort for healthcare businesses, and many lack the expertise necessary to stay on top of this constantly-changing law.

 

In conclusion

Adding HIPAA compliance as a service (CaaS) is a smart move for any MSP, particularly for those that already work with healthcare organizations. The healthcare industry continues to grow, and HIPAA continues to evolve, so the opportunities for generating new business are quite vast. Taking advantage of these opportunities is just plain common sense.

If you’d like to know more, check out the webinar offered by Compliancy Group and see how their HIPAA assessment solutions can help you bolster your profits and attract a whole new set of clients.

Register at http://compliancy-group.com/compliance-as-a-service-for-msps-webinar