Patient Privacy Heats Up – HIPAA Compliant Data Centers a Must

Now, more than ever, HIPAA compliant data centers are a must.

In an effort to strengthen the rights of patients and protect confidential medical records, the federal government has revised a set of rules that will impact the way doctors run their practices. Data breach fines are expected to increase dramatically as well. Now, more than ever, HIPAA compliant data centers are a must. A recent article published by America Medical News Association (@amednews) outlines the reasoning behind stricter penalties.

HIPAA Cracks Down

This past January, the department of health and human services issued a document which strengthens patient privacy rights as established by the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996. A revised set of privacy Laws and notices will now have to be displayed inside doctors offices. Medical practices have until September 23 to comply although health care professionals have another year atop of the aforementioned due date to revise their service agreements.

So what does this mean exactly? Too many practices have experienced a data breach and the time has come for tougher regulation. The buck just doesn’t stop there either. The federal government says everyone that is involved in the handling of patient records is liable. In trying times, this is what it has come down to; we live in a digital age and with more and more medical practices moving to online storage, practitioners have to get serious.

The Need for HIPAA Compliant Data Centers

Smart doctors will entrust their patient’s medical records to a HIPPA compliant data center only. Why? because if they don’t medical records can be breached and they will be fined not thousands, but millions of dollars. That’s how serious the government is getting. In order to become HIPAA compliant, data centers must provide secure server hosting to everyone associated with the healthcare industry. In laymen’s terms, a HIPAA compliant data centers adhere to the highest standards of security when it comes to handling medical records and health care data. And since storage providers are also liable if a data breach occurs they too should be more vigilant about medical record security.

Medical practitioners need to enlist the services of HIPAA compliant data centers so they can lower the risks associated with data breach. Adjusting business practices to safely handle patient data demonstrates to the federal government that Data Centers themselves are indeed taking medical record security seriously. There are many ways in which to prepare your medical practice for HIPAA requirements. For more information click here.