What is compliance in healthcare?
Healthcare compliance refers to the following of a specific set of rules and regulations. Because the healthcare industry deals largely with highly confidential information, including medical history and personal details, it is extremely important that there are standards dictating how this information should be handled. In addition to regulations established by federal and state law, it is usually the case that practices will also have their own set of internal rules. Following these regulations will not only save you from potential negative consequences, but it will protect the privacy of patients and prevent cases of fraud and abuse. Healthcare practices generally work hard to maintain compliance, and it was reported that over 68% of healthcare organizations have an established committee dedicated solely to compliance issues. Nevertheless, because rules and regulations within healthcare are extremely fluid and modifications occur all the time, it is critical that you and your practitioners are up-to-date with these changes. As such, regardless of your own personal awareness of compliance rules, implementing regular compliance training programs into your practice will have significant benefits in relation to protecting yourself, your business, and your patients.
Staying safe from HIPAA Violations
The US Department of Health and Human Services has developed a set of national standards known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), that every healthcare business must comply with. The regulations dictated by HIPAA are ultimately concerned with the privacy and protection of patient information. Non–compliance with HIPAA can result in varied consequences for individuals and the practices they work for. A lot of the time, privacy breaches occur accidentally, by not using proper encryption on mobile devices or having a phone or computer stolen. Although HIPAA takes into consideration whether the breach was accidental, the fines are still hefty.
Further, knowing about patient privacy is almost never enough when it comes to avoiding HIPAA violations. The standards introduced by HIPAA require healthcare businesses to implement compliance training programs so that practitioners are consistently made aware of the steps they need to take to guarantee patient privacy. Regulatory compliance often introduces new standards, and whilst we understand that staying on top of these can be difficult, it is critical that the systems and policies in place at your practice are compliant with new rules. Without a detailed and thorough knowledge of the standards dictated by medical compliance, both accidental and intended breaches will occur. These breaches will result in significant fines, patient mistrust, and a damaged reputation that can be hard to overcome.
Key reasons to invest in compliance training
HIPAA dictates that healthcare businesses need to establish internal policies that regulate how patients are treated, and consequently these policies need to be strictly followed. The three main areas that businesses deal with are risk assessment, proper documentation, and system security. In order to guarantee that these are handled in the most effective way possible, you should be implementing regular compliance training. There is a multitude of key reasons behind why it is in your best interest to invest in compliance training, including:
- Basic understanding: Most importantly, establishing compliance training will guarantee that all of your staff have at least a basic understanding of medical compliance. Although this is often not solely adequate, knowing the basics will lead to practitioners having a heightened awareness of how they should conduct their services. Most of the time, whilst extremely well trained, practitioners have an undeveloped understanding of what compliance entails. As such, it is your responsibility to rectify this by providing educational training programs.
- Help management: The management team of a healthcare business is responsible for ensuring that compliance regulations are followed internally. Following up on any mistakes and breaches is time-consuming for the management staff, and can also be extremely costly. By introducing compliance training, the number of accidental breaches will significantly decrease, saving management time and preventing costly fines.
- Human error: As we mentioned previously, usually the most common HIPAA violations are accidental human errors. Although unintentional, they still result in significant consequences for your practice. Compliance training aims to educate practitioners on the details of these mistakes, and how they can be avoided. Additionally, given that human errors are inevitable, you may want to consider introducing software into your healthcare business. There are available systems that will manage HIPAA regulations, guaranteeing that you manage patient data according to privacy standards. These systems will also encrypt your data using sophisticated methods, allowing you to feel confident that even if your mobile device or computer is misplaced, no one can access any confidential information.
- Evaluation: Generally, compliance training programs will begin with an evaluation of your staff’s understanding of the current rules and regulations. Assessing their knowledge will allow you to develop an effective program that focuses on specific areas of weakness.
By implementing effective compliance training programs into your healthcare business, you will minimize the risk of accidental breaches and errors. Compliance training helps to ensure that you are staying on top of any changes in regulations, and with the right policies in place, you can focus on protecting not only your patients, but also yourself!
Trends in healthcare compliance
Given the extent to which compliance rules and regulations change within the healthcare industry, it is highly recommended that you switch from manually managing compliance to a specialized system. Healthcare compliance software will allow your practice to develop and modify its compliance policies to ensure that standards are consistently up to date. Additionally, these systems integrate with clinical documentation features, allowing your patient records to be consistent and accurate. More importantly, the software includes storage capabilities that are protected by sophisticated security features, ensuring that confidential data is safe and secure.
As technology becomes increasingly prevalent within the healthcare industry, cybersecurity concerns are growing. However, these systems have been designed to elevate the protection of your records and documentation and are usually significantly safer than manual storage. We greatly recommend Carepatron, a platform that provides HIPAA-compliant solutions for clinical documentation, billing, and storage. We understand that staying on top of the ever-changing regulations dictated in the healthcare industry is complicated, but by choosing to implement compliance software, you are giving your business the best chances of success!
One healthcare compliance platform for practitioners and their clients: Try Carepatron for free today!
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