Heiden Tech Blog

Why Your Network Security and HIPAA Compliance Are So Important

Dec 29, 2022

Why Your Network Security and HIPAA Compliance Are So Important

Staying on the right side of the law isn’t the only reason that healthcare and insurance companies need HIPAA compliance assessments. A professional compliance assessment also provides benefits that will help your business thrive while protecting yourself and clients from security leaks.

Before you schedule your next HIPAA compliance assessment, make sure you choose IT professionals that can offer the following advantages.

 

Maintain Consumer Trust in Your Brand

Falling out of HIPAA compliance makes it easier for criminals to steal medical records from your network. A 2017 survey shows that hackers have stolen healthcare data from about 25% of American consumers. The survey also shows that half of security breaches lead to identity theft that harms consumers.

Once your organization loses the trust of patients, you can expect your brand to suffer. Often, that means your customers will choose to get healthcare services from one of your competitors. Losing even a small percentage of your customer base can make it difficult for your company to thrive.

When you have an expert monitor your system for HIPAA compliance, you lower the possibility that a hacker will attack you and steal data.

 

Identity and Close HIPAA Compliance Gaps

The Department of Health and Human Services says that 70% of the organizations it investigates don’t follow HIPAA guidelines. Nearly all of the organizations manage to resolve complaints, but doing so can take a lot of time and money.

It makes more sense to identify and close HIPAA compliance gaps before you experience a security leak or someone files a complaint against your company. If someone breaches your security, you will have to notify individuals and Health and Human Services (which will result in details of your breach being posted on their wall of shame). Penalties range anywhere upwards of $1.5 Million Dollars.  You can’t pretend that the problem didn’t happen. The government requires you to inform anyone affected by the breach.

When an email-based attack stole data from 1.4 million UnityPoint patients in 2018, the company had to send notices to all of the patients put at risk. UnityPoint Health also became the target of a class-action.

Proactive healthcare organizations can avoid such serious problems by identifying and closing HIPAA compliance gaps as soon as possible.

Instead of spending a lot of money communicating with customers and protecting your business from lawsuits, you can focus on closing gaps and improving your organization’s security.

Mitigate Your IT Risks With a Yearly Security Assessment

IT security risks change rapidly. Computer security experts and hackers play a constant game of cat and mouse. Every update made to security standards forces tech-savvy criminals to discover new ways to target healthcare organizations.

A few years ago, healthcare groups worried about malware that would steal data without getting detected. Today, most attacks come from ransomware that restricts access to software and patient records until you pay a ransom.

A growing number of attacks use computer systems to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Even if the criminals don’t steal patient records, they will steal your bandwidth and processing capacity, making it impossible for your employees to work efficiently.

Avoid HIPAA Compliance Issues With Monitoring From Heiden Tech

Compliance monitoring gives you the best way to prevent data breaches and malware from harming your company. Contact Heiden Technology Solutions today to learn more about the benefits of managed IT solutions that will keep you in compliance with the most recent HIPAA updates and protect you from malware threats as they evolve.

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