IT Compliant: What Does It Mean?
Up to four out of five health care workers rely on electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops to access protected health information (PHI). Your organization may have to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies in place, but that does not do much good in safeguarding PHI from malicious or accidental disclosure.
Data breaches and non-compliance with HIPAA regulations can cost your organization dearly in client confidence, staff morale, legal liabilities, and fines. So how can hosted cloud desktop for healthcare help you be compliant?
What is the Cost of Data Breaches and Non-compliance in the Healthcare Sector
- According to the IBM security 2020 report on data breach cost, a data breach in the healthcare sector costs up to an average of $7.13 million.
- The 2015 Anthem data breach affected up to 80 million electronic records.
- Concentra agreed to pay ,775,200 for compliance/” title=”HIPAA”>HIPAA compliance violations after they lost one laptop.
- The average cost of stolen or lost PHI is $259.
What does Compliance with HIPAA and BYOD Mean?
HIPAA restricts downloading of PHI, including social security numbers, patient names, and birth dates, to unsecure personal devices. The IT department in your organization should control or block critical information before individuals can download it to BYOD devices.
In case an employee leaves your organization, your IT team should be able to wipe out any critical data and leave the employee data. Healthcare regulations also compel you to maintain an audit log as evidence of compliance. Records of activities such as URLs accessed, types of device, IP address, location, and user information should be easily accessible by your IT team.
How Cloud Desktop for Healthcare can Help Your Organization
Hosting cloud desktop for healthcare comes with a handful of benefits for your organization, and among the most important is becoming compliant with patient privacy regulations. It means that you follow the HITECH and HIPAA regulations by accessing and storing patient health information through a centralized and secure cloud environment.
In the cloud desktop for healthcare setup, only the authenticated users will access authorized data, such as patient history and prescriptions, among others, from any device. In a nutshell, cloud desktop for healthcare has the following benefits:
Regulating PHI Access
Having hosted cloud desktop services does not mean that your organization loses particular privileges such as control over authentication provisions and access privileges. If anything, the setup empowers these critical services to ensure that patient data does not land on the wrong hands.
You also can select corporate data to wipe out without touching the employees’ personal data or data from any other account.
Improved Security Features
In a hosted cloud desktop, the virtual PC is always isolated from the host operating system, which adds a defense layer against cyber thieves. If you suspect a data breach, you can always decommission a standard corporate desktop over the internet. Your organization can quickly wipe sensitive data at any time.
In some cloud desktops, encryption solutions are available to prevent data access when the clinicians log off. Other vital features include restricted access to external media such as memory sticks and USB drives.
Improved Patient Experience
There is a lot of pressure on healthcare delivery organizations to improve the patient experience. Access to patient medical records from any device and location within the set standards limits is one way you enhance the patients’ experience. Cloud desktops play an essential role in the ‘improved experience’ picture by extending your IT assets’ life and making the clinicians’ work easier. Happy workers translate to happy clients.
How can NSA Managed IT Services Help?
- Data security and IT Control. Cloud desktop for healthcare hosting provides full control of sensitive information and streamlines device management. Your IT department retains control over authentication provisions and access privileges, even with a hosted cloud desktop. Should a staff member or contractor leave the organization, you can quickly remove them from the access environment to safeguard patient information and other critical data.
- Better Security Based on BYOD policies. Hosting for cloud desktop can be part of the managed IT services to safeguard the patient data if a device is stolen, hacked, or lost. The setup comes with multiple security layers such as encryption solutions, controlled access to external media such as memory sticks, and the isolation of the virtual pc from the host device’s operating system.
- Cost Benefits. According to Gartner Research on cloud services for healthcare, the growth in health IT infrastructure, coupled with IT staffing issues, are the main drivers towards a hybrid IT environment in which cloud services will continue to play a central role. Managed IT and cloud desktop services to reduce data center footprint and infrastructure. Your organization doesn’t have to spend on data storage or legacy equipment, which is sometimes notorious for being unpatched or unsupported. The result is reduced spending and improved user experiences because of better hardware and improved security.
- Improved User Experience. Leveraging cloud as a delivery model allows the users’ decentralization to provide them with the best possible user experience. Desktop virtualization makes clinicians mobile and able to provide rich experiences to the patients. The system improves communication, and the result is efficient service delivery, translating to improved staff morale and better patient outcomes.
Achieve Compliance through Hosting Cloud Desktop for Healthcare
Maintaining data security, HIPAA compliance, and BYOD is a complicated and risky balancing act for any organization. NSA can take this complicated endeavor off your hands so that you can focus on enhancing the patient experience. Our cloud desktop hosting provides compliance, greater visibility, and a streamlined cloud set up.
Want to learn more about how cloud desktop solutions can benefit your healthcare organization? Call NSA immediately. (702) 547-9800 | Speak With Our Online Chat Team.