Benefits of Achieving HIPAA Compliance

Healthcare institutions dealing with valuable patients’ identifiable information have been the latest focus of many recent cyber attacks, with the UnitedHealth Group attack earlier this year costing the institution billions.

These attacks can be reduced or managed through HIPAA compliance. So, this article delves comprehensively into the benefits of achieving HIPAA compliance. Let’s get started.

What is HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal statute enacted in 1996 that guides the way healthcare stakeholders handle patients' identifiable information. HIPAA encourages the use of best practices to improve the integrity of patients’ protected information.

Benefits of HIPAA Compliance

The need for HIPAA was informed by the increasing cyber threats that compromised patients’ health information, with such effects being felt far and beyond the healthcare system. Let's look at some of the benefits your organization can get by achieving HIPAA compliance.

1. Reduced Liability

The liability for cyber-attacks may be overwhelming, ranging from lawsuits and penalties by the regulatory authorities, among other things.

With HIPAA compliance, the facility uses best practices to secure the identifiable information of the patients. This proactive measure limits cyber threats and any possible liabilities.

When you have achieved HIPAA compliance, you can justify a data breach as an unavoidable occurrence and not a mere act of negligence on your part. The justification may perhaps limit the fines and lawsuits, among other liabilities.

2. Cost Saving

HIPAA compliance can also save you and your organization a lot of money. Taking proactive measures to install and regularly upgrade your patients’ data protection infrastructure and policies and training your staff on how to handle patients’ protected data can save you the costs that come with forced compliance.

A good example of this forced compliance that can wreck your organization’s finances is the recent case of UnitedHealth Group. Under the watch of HIPAA, UnitedHealth Group announced that the cost of responding to the ransomware attack on its infrastructure would be $2.3 billion.

3. Protection Against Protected Health Information (PHI Loss)

In essence, HIPAA compliance means protecting patients' health information against cyber attacks or falling into the hands of unauthorized third parties.

Recommended best practices by HIPAA promote the privacy, security, and confidentiality of the protected health information. These practices may range from regulating or restricting access to PHI, installing and regularly upgrading the facility’s IT infrastructure, and regularly upgrading data policies within the facility.

Compliance with these recommendations can protect against PHI loss.

4. Improved Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction is the basis of high-quality care. Patient satisfaction is even more important now that all healthcare stakeholders, ranging from government authorities to individual patients, are preaching the high-quality care gospel.

Achieving HIPAA compliance improves patient satisfaction. With HIPAA compliance, patients have faith in your organization's ability to protect their identifiable information. This may include credit card details they use to pay for healthcare services in your organization.

Improved patient satisfaction also means increased profit, as more patients develop trust in your facility and choose you as their preferred healthcare provider.

Final Words

HIPAA compliance is no longer an option but a necessity for any facility looking to thrive in the healthcare sector.

At SWIF, we can help you with the necessary IT solutions to enable you to achieve HIPAA compliance. Our IT products and services have proven to meet the needs of the new generation global workforce.

Come partner with us today for the best IT solutions for your HIPAA compliance.