Privacy and confidentiality of information is very important in human services. Any agency that deals with client data needs to make sure that it is safe and private. This not only gives confidence to those they serve, it is also mandatory.
HIPAA is a federal law that outlines strict guidelines for the protection of identifiable patient information. Due to HIPAA requirements, human services agencies need to have strong safeguards put in place for patient data while it is stored as well as while it is being transmitted.
It is very important to get the right type of human services case management software solution. Such software can be of importance to agencies in the sense that it allows for compliance with HIPAA rules because it incorporates contemporary improvements on information security.
HIPAA: The Quintessential Facts
HIPAA, federal legislation passed in August 1996, affects anyone who deals with personal health information. The Act ensures that all the medical records, health plans and all other identifiable health information is safe while in storage as well as when transmitted from one location to the other.
For agencies in the human services field, this simply means that any of the software solutions that manage cases should be HIPAA-compliant by default. It must have attributes which provide the necessary security to prevent other people or applications from accessing the data.
Key Features of HIPAA-Compliant Software
In order to effectively address HIPAA requirements for privacy and security of health information, human services case management software must have a number of critical security components. First, it should employ a method that makes the collected data inaccessible to any unauthorized individual, e.g., by encoding the information. It should also have strict access controls to avoid compromising information. Also, the software should keep a record of any access to the data or modifications that are being made on it. This goes a long way in keeping track of who has viewed information and at what time. This is particularly necessary for security and compliance.
Best Practices for Maintaining Compliance
In order to meet HIPAA demands and safeguard information, there are some guidelines that human services organizations need to adhere to. One of them is that there should always be the most recent version of software installed, which can fix various security issues. Agencies should also have regular meetings for the staff, reminding of security measures, as well as show presentations of new characteristics of security in the software. Also, security audits should be performed periodically to reveal and fix all issues that can be potentially exploited by hackers.
Conclusion
Selecting appropriate human services case management software is necessary to comply with HIPAA standards and to provide the most secure working environment in human services. Choosing a software that has the best security characteristics can shield agencies and individuals from a data breach. Ongoing training sessions on HIPAA requirements will also go a long way in eradicating any compromising features that may be lying around.
