Monitoring and maintaining HIPPA and PCI compliance for your healthcare office is an essential responsibility, but it can be challenging. Many cybersecurity factors contribute to being HIPPA or PCI compliant, and these requirements can change over time, or your IT infrastructure can age out of compliance if not maintained well. Our team here at Robinett Consulting recommend working long-term with an IT consultant that specializes in healthcare, so you can focus on providing patients with the best care possible while your IT team keeps you compliant! Here are three ways an IT consultant can work with your office IT environment to help keep you compliant.
Keeping Services Compliant
As a healthcare office, you want to make sure patients have a pleasant, seamless experience every time they visit for care. This means amenities like wi-fi access and easy credit card payment options are essential. To provide these amenities and remain HIPPA and PCI compliant, you will need to make sure your wi-fi is not publicly accessible and that your payment services are protected by security solutions. When offering other digital services, you will want to make sure they are set up securely and protected by security solutions that maintain your compliance. An IT consultant will help check every security detail, so you know that you’ll remain compliant no matter the digital services you choose to implement!
Proper Data Protection
Data protection is the most important factor in remaining HIPPA compliant. All of your patient records and sensitive digital files must be protected at all times and only be accessible by the staff that require them to complete their work. When work is being done, your files must be encrypted while being stored, while in transit from the server to the working device, and while in use. Your IT consultant can help your healthcare office make informed decisions as to which security services are necessary to meet these demanding HIPPA compliancy requirements, so you can rest assured that your patient files are safe and that your office network meets HIPPA cybersecurity standards.
Maintaining Compliancy
Compliancy requirements can change over time, and the technology in your office’s IT environment will age and possibly fall out of compliance. To better ensure your healthcare office always remains HIPPA/PCI compliant, it’s important to have a trusted IT specialist that can help monitor your environment and help you maintain your compliance. With regular network assessments and consistent IT consulting advice, your health-focused IT partner can help you know when you might no longer be compliant and the best ways to fix arising problems early, so you can focus on what your practice does best – caring for patients.
Summary
HIPPA and PCI compliancy can be challenging to monitor and maintain over time, but your healthcare office doesn’t need to do it alone. A reliable partner in IT can help identify problem areas that prevent compliancy and offer informed advice on how to reach and maintain compliancy for HIPPA, PCI, and any other standards your office needs to maintain. The security specialists here at Robinett Consulting are always ready to provide your business with a complimentary consultation, so we can help your healthcare practice remain compliant and ready to defend against the latest cybersecurity threats in the healthcare industry!
