If you recently purchased or signed a lease agreement for a new copier, don't assume the new device is automatically HIPAA compliant. The idea that any copier is HIPAA compliant just because it includes the latest security features is a misconception. While technology can help your healthcare facility maintain document security, it's how your staff uses the equipment that determines compliance.
HIPAA compliance rules fall under three general categories including document confidentiality, the integrity of saved information, and availability to Protected Health Information (PHI).
Here's how the three categories can help guide the way you should handle PHI as it relates to your copier.
1. CONFIDENTIALITY
Your copier is a portal to your network, and if you use it to route information to a document management system, it's also a backdoor into your files. For the healthcare industry, protecting patient confidentiality must include restricting access to the office networked copier and printer. Secure password protection is essential. Data encryption can safeguard documents in motion as users send records from mobile devices to your multifunction copier for saving or printing.
2. INTEGRITY
Can you prove that no unauthorized persons have altered your saved patient documents? Protecting information stored on copier hard drives may include using automated data overwrite solutions, disabling USB ports to prevent unauthorized access to scanned documents, and using password protection to restrict access to individual records. Tracking software shows who printed what and when.
3. AVAILABILITY
Print security is critical in the healthcare industry. Rules-based printing is a solution that can help prevent information from access by unauthorized users. Confidential documents abandoned in print trays is a severe violation of compliance laws. Require users to enter a passcode to release print jobs to eliminate this issue. Your copier can be a valuable tool to help your office maintain HIPAA compliance.
For assistance, contact a staff member at CPC Office Technologies today.