Healthcare-related businesses must comply with HIPAA, which details how and when they can share patient data as well as other details surrounding the privacy of healthcare data. When it comes to documents, those covered by HIPAA must make sure they handle the documents with care to prevent any unauthorized access. Some of the best practices for HIPAA-compliant document management include the following.
Secure Transfers for Documents
Many businesses today do need to be HIPAA compliant, so it is important to make sure all document transfers are done as securely as possible. Processing the data, whether it’s for internal use or to send to another business, must be done in a way to keep patients’ information private and avoid potential issues. For this, businesses will need to take advantage of HIPAA compliant document processing, such as sending a digital fax instead of emailing. This ensures the document is sent and received, that it is secure at all times, and that there are no potential issues with HIPAA compliance.
Secure Storage of Documents
Documents that need to be stored should be in a secured location that prevents unauthorized access. For physical documents, keeping the area secure may involve using biometric locks to limit entry or using security to ensure no one can access the documents without prior authorization. For digital documents, access control can be needed to make sure no one can get to the documents through hacking or other measures.
Digitizing Documents
Today, many businesses are opting to digitize documents to make sure they are easily accessible while decreasing the amount of storage space needed for the documents. Digitizing should be done carefully to ensure all documents are securely scanned and uploaded into the system. Only authorized personnel should work on the digitizing to prevent anyone else from seeing the documents as they’re uploaded to a secure system. All documents should be organized properly to make sure they are easy to find and should be inaccessible to anyone who isn’t authorized to access them.
Record Management Audits
It is a good idea for businesses to regularly perform record management audits, as this allows them to see what documents they have stored, whether they’re stored properly, and whether it’s possible for anyone to access them without authorization. If any potential issues are discovered, steps should be taken to fix them immediately and prevent them from happening again. Auditing record management regularly will help businesses ensure they are in compliance at all times and help prevent potential issues.
Destruction of Documents
If all of the documents are digitized or some documents are no longer needed, the physical copies will need to be destroyed. This must be done in a way that it’s not possible for someone to read the information any longer. In most cases, shredding is the best option, though it is important to make sure the documents are shredded properly to avoid someone being able to piece them back together.
HIPAA compliance is required for any healthcare-related businesses that are covered by the rules and regulations. When documents need to be stored, sent and received, or destroyed, it is crucial to make sure it’s done according to HIPAA. Use these best practices to make sure they’re as secure as possible and prevent being out of compliance.
