Don’t comply with HIPAA!

Here is a quote from one of our IT partners:

My client got physically upset at me when I brought up the topic of HIPAA. They didn’t want to discuss it and said it was just another government regulation and they just want to practice medicine.

While I was shocked to hear someone actually say this I am not really surprised by the message. Many healthcare practitioners feel resentful toward HIPAA regulations and are therefore resistant to the steps and any costs needed to comply with them. They already feel completely overwhelmed by the burden of government regulation, with each additional regulation adding expense and cutting further into their revenue.

Don’t comply with HIPAA

Don’t comply with HIPAA! That’s right I said it. Don’t comply with HIPAA for the sake of compliance. HIPAA security is a general set of guidelines on how to protect patient information. And patient information is a key part of your business. Patient information is your customer’s information. And just like other companies in retail, finance and manufacturing, protecting customer information is critical to the success of your business. Breaches of customer information can have significant impact to a business. Just ask Target, eBay and Sony. Breaches of customer information can have significant impact on your customers.

Basic information security

Look at HIPAA security regulations as basic security measures that protect your customer’s data. HIPAA calls for safeguards including: data backup, disaster recovery, security risk assessment to identify weakness in protecting information, termination procedures, policies on protecting information and training of employees. Each of these safeguards are critical to any business. Each safeguard will provide a level of security and protect your customer’s information.

Protect your business

So instead of looking at HIPAA as another government regulation, look at it as best practices for protecting customer information. And if you are protecting your customer’s information, you are protecting your business.