Streamlining HIPAA Compliance with HIPAA Compliance Software

By | November 21, 2019
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Streamlining HIPAA Compliance with
HIPAA Compliance Software?

HIPAA compliance can be a difficult issue to navigate, as such utilizing a HIPAA compliance tracking software simplifies the HIPAA compliance process. With HIPAA compliance software, covered entities (CEs), their business associates (BAs), and managed service providers (MSPs) with healthcare clients, can easily adopt an effective HIPAA compliance program.

What is HIPAA Compliance Software?

HIPAA compliance software allows organizations working in healthcare to streamline their HIPAA compliance implementation process. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires healthcare organizations to have documentation to prove that they have an adequate HIPAA compliance program. 

A HIPAA compliance program includes:

  • Six annual self-audits (five for BAs and MSPs) allows an organization to assess their security and privacy practices to ensure that they are in line with HIPAA standards. The required annual audits are as follows:
    • Security risk assessment
    • Security standards audit
    • Asset and device audit
    • Physical site audit
    • HITECH Subtitle D audit
    • Privacy assessment (not required for BAs and MSPs)
  • Gap identification and remediation plans are enabled once the self-audits have been completed. Self-audits identify gaps in an organization’s security and privacy practices. Gap identification allows custom remediation plans to be created to close the gaps. Remediation efforts allow an organization to update their business practices to ensure that they have covered the full extent of the HIPAA regulation.
  • Policies and procedures that directly relate to an organization’s business practices, while following HIPAA’s Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. Policies and procedures must be created specifically for the organization that will be utilizing them. Buying a HIPAA compliance manual is not sufficient and is not HIPAA compliant.
  • Annual employee training with the ability to track individual progress, as well as legal attestation that employees have read and understood all of the material they were trained on. Employees must be trained on HIPAA standards as well as their organization’s policies and procedures.
  • Business associate management including vendor questionnaires that vet vendors and business associate agreements (BAAs). A BAA outlines specific measures that vendors must have in place to secure the protected health information (PHI) that covered entities (CEs) share with them. It also determines which party is responsible for reporting a breach should one occur. Failing to adequately vet vendors or have a signed BAA makes both parties equally liable should either party experience a breach.
  • Breach notification and incident response is an essential aspect of HIPAA compliance. Breach notification regulations require organizations that experience a breach to report the incident. Reporting requirements differ depending on the amount of patients affected by the breach.
    • Meaningful breach: a breach affecting more than 500 individuals. A meaningful breach must be reported within 60 days of discovery to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), affected individuals, and the media.
    • Minor breach: a breach affecting less than 500 individuals. A minor breach must be reported by the end of the calendar year to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and affected individuals.

A good HIPAA compliance software will offer all of the above in one complete solution. Utilizing a HIPAA compliance software also provides all of the documentation necessary to prove your organization’s “good faith effort” towards HIPAA compliance. This is your best defense if your organization is subject to a HIPAA audit.