Top HIPAA and Healthcare Trends in 2022

Healthcare organizations and their patients have growing concerns about data privacy in today’s digital world. The US government addresses this concern by promoting healthcare compliance through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This federal laws safeguards patient information while standardizing electronic communications about healthcare. HIPAA is an element of an ongoing healthcare compliance evolution that modified how health systems and processes operate. Learn the way today’s healthcare industry complies with security regulations for the privacy of patient data.

Healthcare providers have a record for maintaining with the dynamic compliance landscape. For example, the HITECH Act of 2009 and the Omnibus Rule of 2013 introduced recent requirements for businesses to follow. These changes are sometimes in response to high-profile security breaches.

Medical insurance giant, Elevance Health (formerly Anthem, Inc.), had an unprecedented security breach in 2015, affecting nearly 80 million people. Such incidents are prompting healthcare providers to take a position in security technologies like data loss prevention (DLP) and endpoint security solutions. DLP is a system that identifies sensitive data for defense against unauthorized access and unintended data loss. Meanwhile, endpoint security solutions are implemented to fight against malware and other cyberattacks. 

Attributable to the sensitivity of patient data, HIPAA requires healthcare providers to comply with physical, technical, and administrative regulations. This involves mandatory risk assessments and guidelines against these risks. Subsequently, one in every of the most important challenges of managing compliance is knowing the foundations. 

The excellent news is that many resources can be found to assist healthcare providers with compliance. For instance, the federal government offers a wide range of guidance documents, webinars, and training materials. Many private corporations also provide compliance consulting services and IT management solutions.

Healthcare is evolving, and so are the compliance requirements set by HIPAA. Regulations like HIPAA have shaped how patient care is delivered and health information is managed. As recent rules proceed to be added, businesses have relied on experts like third-party technology providers to develop HIPAA-compliant solutions to guide the longer term of healthcare. 

While these solutions are supposed to protect patients’ privacy, HIPAA-compliant solutions also help be sure that healthcare providers can concentrate on providing quality care without having to fret about violating HIPAA regulations. Finally, healthcare providers have to be more vigilant as compliance becomes more stringent. Failure to comply with HIPAA regulations may end up in hefty fines and jail time. 

HIPAA is a each day reality and a critical a part of health compliance. As such, it is a vital a part of how organizations within the healthcare field can leverage technology. But other recent and exciting innovations and trends are also price attention.

These HIPAA and healthcare trends span from deeper adoption of electronic data and recordkeeping to advances in artificial intelligence to enhance patient care. Below is an examination of technology trends, healthcare trends, and the cross-section of the 2.

Advancements in technology also shape the healthcare industry. Listed below are a couple of trending examples:

Electronic health records (EHRs) are prevalent in healthcare settings today as their value over paper records is recognized. For instance, EHRs provide clinicians with easy accessibility to vital patient information. Digital records also reduce the chance of medical errors and improve the health management of patients. Digital records also make storing files and looking for them at a later date easier than paper records.

Telemedicine is one other emerging technology that impacts traditional healthcare. It’s defined as distant patient care using video conferencing and other communication tools. For example, patients today can test for COVID from home with a web based clinician supervising the method. That is exceptionally accommodating for patients who’ve difficulty accessing traditional healthcare services.

An increasing number of patients are warming as much as the convenience of telemedicine, opening the door for more frequent care from their physicians or specialists. Even higher, telemedicine expedites giving and receiving care as scheduling for each patient and caregiver just isn’t complicated or constrained by travel or a physical location. In lots of cases, as with a slight ailment or query, a doctor-on-demand can provide service instantly in contrast to waiting days or perhaps weeks to see a selected general practitioner.

Mobile health applicationsare also starting to play a task in healthcare. These apps have features like appointment reminders, medication management, and disease tracking. Nonetheless, probably the most significant advantages of mobile health applications is the improved interaction between patients and their care teams.

A helpful complement to mobile health apps that manage appointments or reminders are apps that help users select healthy foods, manage weight and exercise, or track useful diagnostics. As well as, the usage of wearable devices just like the Apple Watch and Fitbit continues to extend. The potential of healthy living is now the domain of anyone with a smartphone. This adoption has a waterfall effect on healthcare providers and caretakers.

Each of those technologies has improved patient care, bringing recent compliance challenges. For instance, EHRs give healthcare providers quick and easy accessibility to patient health information. Unfortunately, this also means a greater risk of unauthorized access. Telemedicine is one other area where compliance challenges are emerging. It’s still complicated to safeguard health information with telemedicine. While mobile health applications are widespread, these apps often collect information from users, which raises concerns about how this data is managed. 

With these critical considerations in mind, recent HIPAA and healthcare trends must overlap between technology and patient care. For instance, telemedicine is a superb idea for patients and doctors alike as long as privacy could be maintained. Likewise, mobile applications are an excellent idea as long as localization and adherence to state compliance requirements could be managed.

Searching through that lens, listed below are a number of the HIPAA and healthcare trends of 2022 which can be shaping the healthcare industry:

Within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have needed to adapt to a brand new reality of distant work. This can be a significant shift in compliance, as organizations must be sure that distant employees adhere to security protocols. Monitoring employees to prevent compliance violations is a challenge for healthcare organizations. 

Along with compliance interests, distant employees bring challenges regarding training, productivity, and efficiency. While distant work began to achieve widespread adoption in 2020 and 2021, the healthcare field is simply recently joining the movement to make more positions fully distant.

There was a greater emphasis on cybersecurity in 2022. It’s because cyber threats are expanding, and data breaches could be very costly. In 2021, IBM reported that the typical cost of knowledge breaches was $4.24 million USD. Consequently, healthcare organizations must protect their data and proactively assess any risks to avoid such consequences. 

Security has all the time been a critical concern of healthcare corporations and repair providers. Yet, with the threat surface increasing to incorporate ransomware attacks, phishing attempts of distant employees, and other sophisticated threats, healthcare providers must remain vigilant when protecting patients and their mental property.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are steadily utilized in compliance solutions to automate and streamline processes. These technologies could be used to watch worker activity, discover potential risks, and take motion to forestall compliance violations. Moreover, AI and machine learning will help organizations adapt to the ever-changing compliance landscape, as these technologies are sometimes designed to scale.

Overall, we will expect much more changes in compliance regulations because the healthcare industry advances. Recent technologies and HIPAA and healthcare trends will likely introduce unknown compliance risks, which can have to be addressed by organizations to remain compliant. Moreover, the healthcare industry is becoming increasingly globalized, which suggests that organizations must pay attention to a broader range of compliance regulations. 

Compliance could be costly for healthcare organizations, particularly small and mid-sized businesses. Consequently, organizations need to search out ways to administer their budgets and investigate cost-effective solutions. A method is to leverage a third-party IT provider to manage technical compliance. 

Healthcare organizations have a responsibility to guard the privacy of patients. Consulting a third-party IT provider can provide help to start when you still need to evaluate HIPAA compliance. The precise third-party provider may have compliance experts to provide help to develop practical solutions while tailoring them to your budget. 

Along with complying with HIPAA requirements, savvy healthcare organizations are adopting recent technologies each day. The precise technology could be a competitive advantage, from AI to business intelligence to advanced EHR. Following these recent HIPAA and healthcare trends of 2022 will provide help to be more compliant and keep you on the forefront of innovation.

Liquid Web is amongst probably the most trusted partners within the technology space relating to developing HIPAA-compliant solutions and helping healthcare providers select the best technology to grow into the longer term.

Contact us now to find out how the best technology could make a difference to your healthcare organization.