All patient-facing websites should be HIPAA compliant
It’s time to redesign your healthcare organization’s website, and HIPAA compliance is a priority. How do you make sure you embark on a HIPAA compliant website design project?
We’ve been working with healthcare organizations for more than a decade, and we’ve compiled a checklist of essential tasks to make sure your new website is HIPAA compliant.
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Introduction to HIPAA compliant website design
If you’re new to healthcare, you’ve likely heard the term “HIPAA,” but you may not understand all of its provisions.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — also known as HIPAA — created a national standard for protecting individual medical records and patient privacy. Health plans and healthcare providers are required to secure sensitive health information and limit who accesses that information without patient consent. And for patients, it means that they have more information about how their health information is used and give them control over who can access it.
HIPAA is crucial because it sets standards for:
- Patient privacy protection
- Health information security
- Healthcare fraud and abuse prevention
- Legal and regulatory compliance
- Ethical responsibility and trustworthiness
If an organization doesn’t comply with HIPAA, it carries huge risks. Some of those risks include:
- Civil penalties
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could fine organizations that violate HIPAA. These penalties can range from thousands to millions of dollars depending on the severity of the violation. - Lawsuits
Patients and states could also bring legal action against non-compliant organizations, which could lead to financial penalties and legal fees. - Reputation damage
Organizations that don’t comply could lose the trust of their patients and spend years trying to rebuild their reputation. - Additional regulatory audits
The OCR may require additional audits to ensure that organizations come into HIPAA compliance, which could add up to significant costs. - Data breaches
Non-compliance organizations open themselves up to risk of data breaches and security incidents. Clean-up after security breaches can be very expensive. - Exclusion from Medicare or Medicaid
And if organizations repeatedly violate HIPAA guidelines, the federal government could block them from participating in federal programs, like Medicare and Medicaid.
Understanding HIPAA requirements
While many public, patient-facing websites are not intended to store sensitive patient information, some healthcare organizations may not think about how standard practices on other websites could violate HIPAA.
When moving forward on a website design, it’s important to understand the key provisions in HIPAA and how they could affect the design.
Privacy rule
HIPAA sets limits on how personal health information (PHI) is used and disclosed without patient authorization. This means that health organizations need to include a notice of their privacy practices and could affect what information is collected on contact forms on the website.
Security rule
HIPAA requires that health plans and organizations need to safeguard PHI as well as any business associates, like website design firms. That means they need to conduct a regular risk analysis on how well they are protecting the security of PHI physically, technically, and administratively.
Breach notification rule
HIPAA also requires that covered entities and business associates tell patients if their information may have been breached. In some cases, they also may need to tell the media. This rule also outlines how health organizations can determine if there’s been a breach and the timeline for handling it.
Minimum necessary rule
Health organizations covered by HIPAA may need to access PHI from time to time in order to accomplish a task, and this rule says that they should only access the minimum amount necessary in order to do it.
That means if a vendor needs PHI in order to build an application, they should only be able to access the absolutely minimum required and no more.
Checklist for HIPAA compliant website design
Because HIPAA is complex, a checklist is one of the best ways to make sure you have a HIPAA compliant website design.
Below, we have a detailed checklist organized by topic to help navigate HIPAA regulations so that your website doesn’t violate requirements and put you at risk.
Data Security
HIPAA requires that covered entities establish security measures required to safeguard PHI on the website.
User Authentication and Access Controls
Health organizations should also make sure they use strong user authentication to control access to sensitive data.
HIPAA compliant website design checklist
Download our free checklist to guide you in your website design project.
Privacy Policies and Consent Forms
Organizations also need to clearly outline privacy policies and obtain patient consent to collect and use data. This includes drafting compliant privacy policies and consent forms.
Secure Communication Channels
It’s also important to secure communication channels for transmitting PHI. That means using encrypted messaging systems or secure contact forms.
Regular Audits and Compliance Monitoring
After the website launch, covered entities need to conduct regular audits and check for ongoing compliance. If any issues are uncovered in those checks, you need to address them promptly.
Training and Education
Everyone who manages the website should be trained on HIPAA requirements. There are a number of training programs available to educate staff.
In summary
HIPAA compliant website design projects don’t have to put your organization at risk and they don’t have to be scary. Following the key points of our checklist can help keep your organization HIPAA compliant and protect patients.
Even better, seek out professional help from a HIPAA trained expert agency like Standard Beagle. We can help you implement the checklist and ensure full compliance.
