Austin Page https://www.lockingpowercords.com 3m 855 #hipaa
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
A growing number of companies started to adopt a hybrid work set-up over the years, but the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health restrictions that came with it fast-tracked this transition.
Now, recent numbers show 5 in 10 full-time employees in the U.S. are working hybrid while 3 in 10 are exclusively working remotely, and only 2 in 10 are entirely on-site.
The rise of this trend has changed the work landscape and its rules, but some regulations remain the same. One of those is ensuring that employees comply with the standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
If your organization is transitioning to a hybrid or complete remote work set-up, it’s important to ensure that everyone will follow HIPAA guidelines. Here’s how to make sure that your staff is HIPAA compliant while they work remotely.
Develop and Distribute HIPAA Policies
Creating and dispersing policies to your staff is the first step to maintaining HIPAA compliance as they work remotely. These guidelines should involve how the company gathers, uses, protects, and shares information (both digital and physical).
Some of the things HIPAA policies for remote work should include are:
- Having a separate workspace to limit access to secured content.
- Restricting access to work devices.
- Instructing staff members to have a dedicated file safe to store physical copies of confidential documents, especially those that contain Protected Health Information (PHI or ePHI if it’s digitized).
- Ensuring employees can properly discard unnecessary physical and digital files containing sensitive data.
- Requiring staff members to log out of their work devices or disconnect from the company network after working.
- Monitoring remote access activities and disposing of inactive accounts.
- Restricting employees from copying PHI or other confidential data to unauthorized storage devices.
- Creating a sanction policy for those who will violate internal HIPAA policies.
- Having employees read, understand, and sign HIPAA regulations along with other confidentiality paperwork.
Secure Your Devices and Network
Part of being HIPAA-compliant is ensuring that your employees’ devices and network connections are well-protected. Following simple cybersecurity practices is the best way to undertake this next step.
Ensure that all pieces of equipment used for network access are properly configured by your cybersecurity team. Have them establish restrictions for suspicious platforms and set an automatic time-out feature that will immediately log out the remote staff after a certain amount of inactivity or when they are done with work.
Making sure your remote staff has secured cable management is also a must to reduce signal interference and make it easier to troubleshoot device or network problems.
To secure their equipment and access to PHI, have your staff create strong passwords or passphrases. Strongly advise your employees to change their login credentials regularly as well. Doing so will avoid the risk of compromising the network due to unauthorized access.
What’s more, online meeting rooms and file-sharing platforms should be encrypted to maintain the safety of sensitive data, especially when confidential information is transferred or shared.
You must also require your remote staff to enable multi-factor authentication on all remotely accessible platforms, use a secured virtual private network (VPN), and set up firewalls and install security software to maintain the security of their devices and network connections.
Keep Security Software Updated
Security software is often updated to fix bugs and patch vulnerabilities from their older versions. Make sure that your remote staff is installing these updates to keep their devices and remote systems protected against evolving cybersecurity threats.
Applying the latest security patches prevents hackers from carrying out attacks and breaking into the network using the old systems’ security flaws, thereby ensuring the security of confidential data.
Another benefit of keeping devices and software updated is to maintain their compatibility with the latest technologies and other programs they interact with on the network. Installing patches also enhances the software’s performance and new features that can help remote employees work more efficiently.
Conduct HIPAA Training for Remote Workers
Lack of knowledge and training on HIPAA compliance is among the main reasons why companies are vulnerable to violations. It could even cause security breaches and data leaks that can put the organization in jeopardy.
Prevent this from happening by arranging a HIPAA training program for your remote employees and everyone else in the company who sends and has access to sensitive data.
Carrying out this strategy will help your staff members have a deeper understanding of what HIPAA compliance is, its importance, the risks involved, and how they can efficiently follow guidelines even as they work out of the office.
Conducting HIPAA training should be among the top priorities of the organization to maintain its security and stability. Make sure that the topics will cover remote work scenarios and how employees can effectively deal with them.
Conclusion
Employees must have a clear understanding of the risks that come with handling protected information while they work remotely. Possessing this clarity will help them stay compliant with HIPAA regulations and perform their duties safely. Applying the strategies listed above helps ensure that your remote staff improves their security and maintains their compliance regardless of where they work.
(
