Common HIPAA Compliance Challenges and Solutions

HIPAA compliance can be an intimidating topic – there are so many requirements and technical issues attached to the legislation, and its standards touch every aspect of healthcare practice.

Below, we’ll explore some of the common challenges for complying with HIPAA and provide practical solutions for healthcare entities.

What Is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, is a federal law famous for protecting confidential patient data in the U.S.

Out of its five main rules, the Privacy and Security Rules are the most important, considered required reading for anyone with access to patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI).

HIPAA is a complex and technical piece of legislation, which can make it difficult for organizations to understand and adhere to its many requirements. Nearly all organizations can stand to improve their compliance protocols and practices in at least one area.

Why Is HIPAA Compliance Important?

HIPAA compliance is a critical part of a healthcare-related business’s well-being.

There are many different types of HIPAA violations, and non-compliance can have a negative impact on both individuals and whole organizations. Potential consequences for individuals include fines, jail time, termination, and loss of license, while organizations face financial penalties, reputational damage, and legal investigations. Civil lawsuits are even a threat in some cases.

Common HIPAA Compliance Challenges

There are several areas where HIPAA compliance is particularly difficult, and modern technology has only created new challenges. Below, we’ll take a close look at a few common HIPAA compliance challenges and what to bear in mind to stay compliant.

Technical Challenges and Data Security 

The security of patients’ confidential information is one of the fundamental aspects of HIPAA. And in an age of increasing reliance on digital health information, having technological safeguards in place for data security is both essential and complicated.

Organizations often fall short of HIPAA compliance related to data security in the following areas:

• Access Controls: HIPAA requires you to restrict access to PHI and e-PHI to authorized personnel only. Depending on the systems you use and the location of your data, limiting access to sensitive information can be difficult.
• Data Integrity Controls: To prevent HIPAA penalties, you must be able to maintain data integrity. This entails making sure that only individuals who have been given permission can change, remove, or delete specific files.
• Audit Controls: To be HIPAA compliant, you need control over both who uses your data and how it is used. You need audit controls in place that enable you to track and evaluate data activity, such as who accessed particular files and why.
• Data Transfer Controls: Your entire business may be in danger if you can't regulate the way your data is transferred. Your e-PHI is best safeguarded by ensuring that it is only exchanged in authorized and secure ways.

As an administrator, it's crucial to monitor devices that can access e-PHI. Encrypting employees' devices, including phones and laptops, is essential for data protection and preventing breaches, as it ensures the security of PHI. Proper training is also necessary to educate employees about the importance of only using properly encrypted devices and communication methods.

Risk Analysis

Part of ensuring data security is running a period evaluation to find any gaps or flaws in current security measures. The HIPAA Security Rule requires regular risk analysis by all covered entities and their business associates.

Risk analyses are important for preventing a security breach, but they’re also an important part of your defense if the worst should occur. If your organization is affected by a security breach or HIPAA complaint, the first thing that compliance authorities will ask for is your recent risk analyses. If you can’t produce sufficiently recent documentation, you’ll be facing a much larger fine than you would if you’d done your due diligence.

Risk analyses are time-consuming for IT teams, which is one of the reasons organizations sometimes fall behind on this aspect of HIPAA compliance. If you’re lacking resources for regular HIPAA risk analysis, consider outsourcing the job to a third party that specializes in the task. It will result in a more efficient and thorough process, leaving your regular IT team to focus on addressing any weaknesses they find.

Managing Third-Party Vendor Risk

Chances are good that your organization partners with what HIPAA refers to as Business Associates for certain types of tasks. Third-party organizations probably handle services like billing, accounting, shredding, transcription, data management, and more.

When a Covered Entity works with any third-party service that will have access to their PHI, they’re responsible for properly vetting them and minimizing any data vulnerabilities. Inadequate vetting can result in your organization being held liable if their poor security allows a breach.

Additionally, Covered Entities are required to maintain up-to-date Business Associate Agreements that outline the HIPAA-related obligations and responsibilities of everyone involved. It’s important to hammer out this paperwork before any data is exchanged and to regularly review and update the agreements to account for current services, methods, and technologies.

Telehealth, Remote Work, and Related Security Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way everyone does business, making virtual communication and remote work far more widespread in every industry. The health industry is no exception.

While capabilities like telehealth have revolutionized medicine, they present unique challenges to data security. Device and network security are both far more complicated once the PHI communication leaves your organization’s facility.

It’s essential to consider the necessary safety measures – including encryption, access controls, theft prevention, and more – that you might need for any remote or mobile business technology.

Your staff also needs regular training in both the methods for keeping PHI secure while using various technologies and the importance of doing so. Don't just focus on officially sanctioned avenues like telemedicine, either – you need to address things as banal and ubiquitous as text messages and social media, as well as the use of emerging technologies like generative AI.

Reminders are especially important before holidays and travel when security breaches spike.

HIPAA Compliance Documentation Challenges

HIPAA compliance involves a lot of paperwork – everything your organization does to comply with HIPAA needs to be recorded in case of future questions.

It can be time-consuming to keep up with HIPAA documentation, especially when you account for the latest laws and updated company policies or processes. Your staff may have to put in a lot of effort to keep your HIPAA compliance records up to date and under review.

It’s easy to let this part of HIPAA compliance slide until absolutely necessary, but this will only create bigger problems in the long run. Instead, it’s smarter for your organization to have specific methods for ensuring that your compliance documents are in order and a set frequency for doing a review.

Insufficient Training

HIPAA non-compliance often stems from inadequate employee training. In the Code of Federal Regulations, 45 CFR §164.530 relates to the administrative requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and details what kind of training is needed to stay in compliance. It reads:

“A covered entity must train all members of its workforce on the policies and procedures with respect to protected health information required by this subpart and subpart D of this part, as necessary and appropriate for the members of the workforce to carry out their functions within the covered entity.”

In this case, the solution to this problem is simple. By purchasing role-specific training from a trusted compliance training provider like us, you can ensure your staff receives a thorough and effectively designed education in HIPAA best practices that are relevant to their job.

Get HIPAA-Compliant Training Online

We’ve been providing businesses with quality online compliance training for over 20 years! Our courses are self-paced and mobile-friendly so that busy professionals can fit in their required learning wherever and whenever it’s most convenient for them. Our business solutions include a free platform for delivering and tracking compliance courses.

We offer HIPAA training targeted to specific roles, including HIPAA for Business Associates, HIPAA for Healthcare Workers, HIPAA for Medical Office Staff, and HIPAA for Dental Offices. Our catalog also includes other courses that are critical for regulatory compliance in the healthcare industry, including training on OSHA, essential HR topics, and more!

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