Securing patient information is an ongoing challenge in an ever-advancing tech-driven world. Despite what one might think, the law insists that patients have a right under existing HIPAA and similar laws to be ensured that a clinical setting takes appropriate and sufficient measures to protect their personal and medical data. Unfortunately, some clinics are open to hacking attempts, or they do not secure patient data as well as they should be doing. The following are some ways a clinic can better protect patient information in an attempt to remain compliant with existing data security laws.

New Hacker Protection

The realm of computer science is always a buzz with new ideas of how to keep hackers out of sensitive data. New ideas from improving encryption to AI-based hacker detection and prevention methods are well in the works to make it more difficult for hackers to slip under the radar. Even third-party companies are busy introducing solutions and tools to help client-based clinics and medical practices like Secure Healthcare Services offers when providing avenues for clinics to outsource patient management procedures, medical data processing and other important services that help clinics to serve their patients more effectively and securely.

Encrypted Emails

If the employees of a clinic must send and receive patient information over email, this can be an open door for hackers to grab hold of data in transit. To prevent a data breach over email, it is best to employ encryption techniques to obscure sensitive data when using this mode of communication. Encryption forces a hacker into the corner of having to make sense of emailed information without possessing the cipher needed to decode that information.

Secure Online Portals

An online portal is a point of access to information. This could be something as simple as a website or some kind of streaming data hub. If the website for a clinic is designed to receive sensitive information from patients, such as personal information or streaming consultations with doctors, then it is essential to ensure that this information is kept secure. The last thing a clinic needs is a patient’s medical consultation being streamed live on YouTube by a clever hacker. To achieve this kind of security, it may require hiring a full time IT person to oversee the clinic’s data security needs when it comes to EPHI and other data-security issues.

Secure Voicemail Services

Patients will be calling the clinic where they receive medical treatment. This is why a clinic must be careful in choosing a voicemail provider or even a virtual receptionist to make sure the company they are receiving services from can ensure HIPAA compliance. Otherwise, failure to ensure the security and privacy of a patient, along with any information they convey over voicemail, could lead to hefty fines and legal problems for the clinic with which the patient is conducting business of a medical nature.

Modern clinics are always going to have to comply with HIPAA or similar standards. When these standards are upheld, patients are guaranteed a significant amount of anonymity with respect to the clinic with which they are a patient. When clinics strive to maintain the security of a patient’s identity and medical information, this demonstrates that the clinic providing medical services has gone the extra mile to keep the patient’s rights and best interests intact.