Leveraging Technology to Bridge Gaps in Compliance

By embracing a hybrid automated and specialist-supported credentialing and compliance solution, healthcare systems can be confident. Providers of post-acute care, hospitals, and health systems in the United States must abide by hundreds of regulatory regulations. It costs a lot to make this compliance easier. The average community hospital spends around $7.6 million a year on administrative tasks to maintain regulatory compliance, according to the American Hospital Association. A perfect storm for non-compliance is developing with the coming end of the COVID-19 public health emergency likely to shake up healthcare regulations, continued healthcare labour shortages, and increasing levels of professional fatigue. Overwhelmed providers may unintentionally leave vulnerabilities in security, access, and credentialing systems even with large investments in administration to support compliance. Health systems may consequently be subject to severe fines and penalties, major reputational harm, and even the potential loss of important Medicare contracts. Technology can be used to bridge gaps in patient privacy issues by implementing robust privacy and security measures and ensuring that patients have control over their personal health information. Here are some ways technology can be used to address patient privacy concerns:

• Encryption: Medical practices can use encryption technology to protect patient health information both at rest and in transit. Encryption ensures that patient data is secure and only accessible to authorized users.
• Access controls: Access controls can be used to restrict access to patient health information to only those who need it. Medical practices can implement role-based access controls to ensure that only authorized users can view and modify patient data.
• Two-factor authentication: Two-factor authentication can be used to enhance the security of patient health information. Two-factor authentication requires users to provide two forms of authentication, such as a password and a fingerprint, to access patient data.
• Patient portals: Patient portals allow patients to access their medical records, communicate with their healthcare providers, and manage their health information online. Medical practices can implement patient portals that require patients to authenticate themselves before accessing their health information.
• Blockchain: Blockchain technology can be used to create a secure, decentralized system for storing patient health information. Blockchain technology provides a tamper-proof record of all transactions, which ensures that patient data is secure and cannot be altered without authorization.
• Privacy policies and informed consent: Medical practices can develop comprehensive privacy policies and obtain informed consent from patients before collecting and sharing their health information. Privacy policies should be transparent and easy to understand, and patients should be fully informed about how their health information will be used and shared.

Overall, by implementing strong privacy and security measures and ensuring that patients have control over their health information, technology can be used to bridge gaps in patient privacy issues and protect patient confidentiality.