The Modern Health System: Where Technology and HIPAA Compliance Collide
Healthcare advances mean an increased need for HIPAA compliance in technology
Technology has brought amazing benefits to our lives, but it’s also brought new challenges. In the healthcare industry, technology has improved patient communications, enhanced testing processes, and streamlined record-keeping for better patient care. But technology in the healthcare industry can also be a burden, especially regarding HIPAA compliance. If your institution or practice is looking to try HIPAA forms online, or build a patient-facing portal for scheduling appointments, security needs to be top of mind for your whole team. The relationship between HIPAA compliance and technology is ever-evolving, but here’s a look at how it’s grown so far.
The Details Behind HIPAA Compliance
Privacy in healthcare is nothing new. As far back as Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Oath there has been an ongoing belief that to be trustworthy, medical professionals need to be discrete with the personal information they are given. Since then privacy has been codified into multiple laws, but it wasn’t until 1996 that the Healthcare Insurance and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in the United States setting the standard that medical practices follow to this day.
As technology has continued to advance and more paper processes were replaced with electronic ones, additional laws were passed to keep pace with the changes. This included the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the Meaningful Use incentive program, and the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, among others. While few of these laws changed much overall, they further defined the encryption and security details that healthcare providers needed to follow. While having a clear delineation of the privacy laws was helpful, it also set a restrictive set of standards for everyone to follow.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule was able to finally set a national standard to protect medical records and personal health information, giving patients more control over their own information. While privacy about something as personal as medical decisions is critical, it was also helpful in providing more information to patients. Now patients are able to obtain their own medical records, request corrections, and make more informed decisions about their care. It also set the standard for ensuring that patients are notified in the case of a data breach.
“Compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule became mandatory on April 21, 2006.”
What Are Some Technologies Being Used?
While the list of available technologies for hospitals and medical practices is long, there are a few key categories that make up most of them. Each category may have multiple platforms, or there may be software or devices that can help bridge the gaps between different pieces of technology.
Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
EHR or EMR programs are systems used internally to store patients’ data. In some practices, the two terms are used interchangeably, but for many, there is a difference between the two. An EMR is strictly a digital version of a patient’s chart. This generally includes all the information covered in their visit, including symptoms, diagnoses, treatment plans, and more. And EHR goes beyond the patient’s medical record to also include details about their overall health. For example, an EMR makes it easier to track blood pressure and cholesterol levels over the course of a patient's routine visits. An EHR will also track that information but can include additional details to help fill in the gaps, like changes in their diet or exercise habits.
One other significant difference is that an EMR is typically geared towards helping a patient within a specific health organization, while an EHR is built to a standard that can be shared with outside health organizations. While an EMR may contain organization or clinic-specific details or abbreviations, an EHR would use industry-standard terms and definitions to ensure the data can travel with the patient. In an age where different specialists are located throughout the country, and people with specific needs travel to those new locations, it makes the transfer of the patient’s data fast and secure.
Patient Portals
A patient portal is a patient-accessible website or app that allows patients direct access to their medical records. As a key part of HIPAA requirements, this makes patient access easy, but also gives patients additional ways to communicate with their physicians and healthcare network. Whether they need to send secure messages or schedule appointments, the burden is taken off the patient when they have a single portal to access everything they need.
Telehealth and Telemedicine
Telemedicine refers to remote clinical services where a patient sees a medical professional via alternative communications. This can be phone calls, videoconferencing, internet appointments, streaming media, or even image forwarding through digital methods. While similar in nature, telehealth refers to telemedicine visits as well as remote non-clinical services. This can be things like continued education training, meetings, or administrative discussions.
The astronomical rise in telemedicine services has expanded greatly over the last few years, mainly due to necessity and increased care requirements, especially for those in rural areas. While progress has been made by many insurance companies to cover telemedicine visits, access to and coverage for these types of visits are expanding. HIPAA regulations and rules have made it possible for things like telehealth to exist in a way that keeps patients and practitioners protected.
“New study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found a 63-fold increase in Medicare telehealth utilization during 2020 and 2021.”
Remote Patient Monitoring Software and Devices
Remote patient monitoring covers exactly what it sounds like, being able to monitor patients without their physical presence in an exam room or a telemedicine appointment. These can range from wearable devices to software platforms, and cover a variety of concerns. It can be everything from monitoring the effectiveness of a newly implanted pacemaker, to charting and tracking blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.
While the platforms and devices vary greatly, the solution itself is the same. To give patients the ability to leave the hospital or clinic while still communicating vital health data to their practitioners. In some cases, remote patient monitoring software platforms even have links to emergency services. If something wildly outside the expected range happens for a client, such as an arhythmic heartbeat, emergency services can be notified immediately to tend to the patient in need.
Hospital Management Software
At the end of the day, hospitals have administrative functions and duties just like any other business. While they are held to HIPAA standards, they still need to be able to process payroll, schedule employees, send invoices and bills, as well as track inventory and other accounting functions. This is where hospital management software comes in handy, and some of the advances in this field are truly incredible.
Just as a grocery store can have orders placed online, and inventory confirmed in an instant, now hospitals with pharmacies have the same ability. If a physician is meeting with a patient and prescribes a medication, the hospital management software can allow them to see if that medication is currently available at their pharmacy. In the case of many emergency clinics, keeping an accurate record of exactly how much of any medication is given to a client is important not only for billing but for keeping all physicians informed of everything the patient has taken. Accurate records in this sense don’t just help the hospitals do business, they help ensure the safety of patients and prevent potentially dangerous medication combinations.
What’s the Benefit of Updating Processes and Devices?
Historically speaking, many of the available technologies in the healthcare industry have a “paper equivalent”. In other words, you can still chart a patient’s progress on a physical paper chart, or you can manually tabulate a patient’s bill after their visit. So what are the reasons driving so many health organizations to move to newer technologies?
Minimizing Errors and Mistakes
Putting aside jokes about doctors’ handwriting, mistakes can still happen. Whether that’s due to illegible handwriting, or it’s because there wasn’t accurate information in the patient’s file, mistakes are just part of day-to-day life. In the healthcare industry, however, mistakes can mean the difference between a healthy patient, or a misdiagnosis. If your patient records are handled with an EHR or other HIPAA compliant forms online, then you’re getting the most detailed and accurate data available in an instant. Even by simply switching your intake paperwork to a digital intake form you can autofill patient information to minimize mistakes, or show at-a-glance clinic updates to your patients. Instead of waiting for paperwork to be filed and reviewed, or even compiled into a separate data tracking system, practitioners have immediate visibility into symptoms and notes from the patient.
Digital records and systems can also mean a more streamlined way to get information where it needs to be. Prescriptions can be sent electronically to pharmacies in an instant, and if a pharmaceutical technician sees an issue with prescription combinations, they can alert the physicians immediately. Tying medical imaging and test results to a patient's electronic records means the patient and physician all have instant access to this information and minimizes the risk of any labwork getting paired with the wrong patient.
“The Leapfrog Group, a coalition of Fortune 500 companies and other large healthcare purchasers that has been a leader in the patient safety movement, concludes that computerized physician order entry (CPOE) could save hospitals between $180,000 and $900,000 annually by reducing medication errors and adverse drug events.”
Improvements in Patient Care and Communication
The number one focus for any health organization is to help people stay healthy. Advancements in medical technologies make that more possible than ever by increasing the ability for physicians to communicate with their patients and monitor progress at a glance. When patient data can be automatically charted, instead of manually calculated, health trends and patterns can be identified faster. Whether that’s for monitoring a treatment plan, or preventative care, it gets data translated to meaningful actions faster.
Streamlining communication between different health organizations, hospitals, and clinics is a powerful step made easier by technology. But facilitating faster communication between departments and physicians in a single network means quicker response times for patients too. And with patient portals providing new and faster means of secure communication, unnecessary visits with patients can be cut, saving time for everyone. One substantial benefit to the implementation of new technologies in medicine is the overall ability to lower costs and barriers to patients. As more processing data moves to automated solutions, less time is required from the healthcare staff, lowering the overall cost of care. Telemedicine visits can also provide access to patients in rural areas or those without means of transportation, broadening healthcare access for everyone.
Increased Security of Patient Data
While all digital platforms have risks, in many cases they’re minimal compared to the inability to secure paper patient files. Accurate access logs from digital solutions, as well as password protection and the policies of your institution combined, can build a stronger security framework for all your patients and staff. Many HIPPA-secure systems will maintain a log of access, keeping a transparent and accurate record of each time patient data files were opened, viewed, or edited.
These platforms also make it easier to identify if there has been a security breach, whereas previous filing systems could be nearly impossible to pin down if any data had been leaked. Breach notifications are helpful for ensuring your patients and physicians understand exactly what information may have been shared, but can also protect you against certain HIPAA-required ramifications. Digital safety is imperative in the healthcare industry, and medical technologies can provide new levels of security for your organization.
What Are the Challenges of Healthcare Technology?
Healthcare technology is likely being implemented all around you; whether it’s in your own organization or other networks in your area. Like with any other changes, there are going to be challenges along the way. Some of the biggest challenges are thankfully only temporary but are still things that need to be considered when looking to upgrade the tech in your organization.
The Learning Curve
At the top of the list is the learning curve for implementing anything new. Even if this wasn’t new technology, but was simply a new process, there would be a learning curve, it’s a side effect of change. How steep the learning curve is will vary based on the type of new medical device, hardware, or software you’re implementing.
The best way to overcome the learning curve challenge is to keep your staff informed about the changes. Lay out expectations for adoption early, and work with the device or platform provider to see if they offer onboarding assistance. The more time you can spend getting the framework in place, and allowing your team to adjust, the smoother the process will go.
Work With Trusted Teams
Whether it’s your organization’s IT team, or the team providing the new tech for your facility, make sure you’re working with people you trust. In many cases you’ll see programs or devices advertised at a fraction of the cost of other providers, so make sure you look at the whole picture. Is this device or platform vetted by an outside organization you trust? Are there additional costs for implementation, support, or maintenance? If something goes wrong, can somebody inside your organization provide the help you need right away?
Keep in mind, in many cases the vendors who create these platforms and devices aren’t held to the same HIPAA standards that your health organization is. Talk to them honestly about your concerns, and tell them you expect transparency. The best technology vendors will be happy to walk you through the full process, and even without HIPAA requirements to meet, will still offer HIPAA-secure products that your team can use.
The Price Tag
Investing in new technology is just that: an investment. There will be upfront costs involved, but keep in mind the benefits, security updates, and potential savings in the long run. Some devices and platforms will pay for themselves within a few weeks to a month, but in some cases, it will be longer. As long as you’re prepared for the initial cost, the savings will be worth it in the long run.
About GoFormz
GoFormz is a digital forms solution that helps bring your data into a single, actionable place. We believe that everyone should be able to fill out their forms online and deliver products and services that redefine how people and businesses collect and process information. No matter your need for online forms work orders to safety reports, GoFormz can bring your processes to the digital realm. With HIPAA-secure configurations, data encryption, and streamlined integrations, you can rest assured that your data is always ready when you need it.
