3 ways to Safeguarding Personal Data and Build Privacy Culture in Healthcare

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the scope of technology to meet global issues that particularly Healthcare industry was suffering. 

At the start of the pandemic, Healthcare organizations frequently had trouble locating the fundamental data they required to respond, whether it was data on severe sickness and death rates or the accessibility of hospital beds and life-saving supplies such as oxygen cylinders, Ventilators, or PPE kits. The epidemic brought to light several issues, including how urgently healthcare needs collaborative data analytics and data privacy technologies such as cookie consent for collecting patient data. 

Trust is one of the cornerstones of the healthcare system. Patients must believe that the individuals and institutions promising to deliver care and security have their best interests in mind. When visiting a doctor, patients frequently share information about themselves that they might not otherwise. They must believe that their healthcare provider will only reveal that information with their consent to interested family members, pharmaceutical firms, or other healthcare professionals. 

But before we delve further, let's understand why the healthcare industry needs data privacy infrastructure. 

Healthcare's Data Privacy Process and Statistics 

To ensure that only approved professionals and organizations can access patient data and medical information, a set of laws and regulations are necessary for healthcare data privacy. It can also describe a company's procedures for safeguarding patient health information and preventing unauthorized access. The following information is included in protected health information (PHI): 

• provided medical treatments 

• the name and address of a patient 

• The patients' emotional or physical health 

• For healthcare data privacy, a patient's Social Security number and birthday must be secured as PHI. 

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But why is data privacy such a significant issue for the healthcare industry? The statistics speak for themselves. 

By sector, healthcare is the most affected due to data breaches 

30% of all significant data breaches occur in hospitals.  

51% of healthcare organizations' data breaches since 2019.  

The first half of 2022 saw 337 breaches which affected 19,992,810 individuals.  

For several reasons, data privacy in healthcare is essential. Building trust benefits the healthcare system as a whole, which is facilitated by maintaining the security and confidentiality of patient information. Personal data on patients is protected from malicious parties by maintaining privacy as breaches are becoming increasingly common due to advanced tech. 

Health plans and healthcare providers are just two of the protected companies that are impacted by data breaches. They manifest as theft, unlawful access to or exposure to email or medical records, network server hacks, and email hacks. Bad actors might need access to patient data for various purposes, such as selling the information for a profit or blackmailing people who would be affected. 

HIPPA: Think twice before violating! 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the law that the healthcare sector is most familiar with and conspicuous for. 

 
 

The 1996 law known as HIPAA establishes the standards for data privacy and security for PHI (Protected Health Information), or health information that needs to be safeguarded. Hospitals, partners, and associated subcontractors are among the businesses that must apply all security measures to be HIPAA compliant when handling PHI. 

 
 

Healthcare firms must stay up to date to remain compliant with HIPAA, which is continuously revised to prevent possible threats to data privacy. And if you don't do it, please look at the image below carefully. 

 
 

• Advocate Health Care Network: A $5.5 million fine was imposed for the theft of almost 4 million medical records. 

• The Feinstein Institute: For stealing the protected health information of 13,000 research participants, a $3.9 million fine was levied. 

• CardioNet: $2.5 million penalties for a suspected legal violation from misunderstanding HIPAA standards.  

 

Three keys for securing your healthcare data 

Your organization is responsible for ensuring it complies properly with medical privacy rules since there are financial penalties for unintentionally breaking HIPAA and other privacy standards. Fortunately, your company may preserve patient privacy and guarantee compliance using various tools and tactics.  

 

1. Securing Key systems 

 
 

Technology is essential for safeguarding private medical data and reducing the possibility of a breach or other unauthorized access to patient information. Your company needs a HIPAA-compliant Consent Management System, such as Adzapier, that makes it easier to create, maintain, and collaborate on patient data while obeying privacy laws. 

 
 

2. Employee Training 

Your team must be aware of how to use it and what to do to safeguard patient privacy. Creating a culture that respects patients and shows empathy for their vulnerabilities is what makes an impenetrable shield of data security and privacy. You can start with- 

• Making secure passwords 

• Securing mobile devices for use at home and business 

• Recognizing fraud, such as phishing fraud 

• Implementing security measures, including mandating multi-factor authentication 

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3. Remaining up to date with new laws 

  

Over time, laws governing patient privacy get updated with new amendments. For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services modified the criteria for telehealth visits during the COVID-19 epidemic to provide more access to healthcare when many people were unable to leave their homes or were suspicious of seeing a provider in person. To guarantee that it continues to comply with the laws, an organization must keep track of any changes to the regulations. 

 
 

Conclusion: Big data is becoming crucial in solving the most pressing issues in healthcare and other fields. There is little doubt that privacy technologies will be essential to future innovation. To increase access to information concerning significant issues globally, we must continue to promote cooperation between governments, businesses, and tech to construct a secure and reliable data privacy infrastructure.  

 

Visit Adzapier to learn more about Data, Privacy, and Compliance.