Which Companies and Entities are Affected by HIPAA Compliance?
Healthcare is a patchwork of complex care delivery workflows, and HIPAA compliance affects most of these entities and providers.
For example, anyone who provides treatment, payment, or operations within a healthcare setting needs to ensure that their procedures and technologies are HIPAA compliant. From healthcare systems to hospitals and medical practices, as well as insurance payers, credit card companies, credit and collection agencies, and more, are all affected by and must strive for strict HIPAA compliance.
Any business associates who have access to patient information, as well as other entities like healthcare subcontractors, are also affected by HIPAA compliance. All of these organizations and individuals must take the necessary steps to protect PHI to comply with HIPAA rules.
Since HIPAA was signed into law, the healthcare delivery landscape has changed radically. The biggest change to HIPAA compliance has been the transition of healthcare organizations to digital technology. Paper charting is gone and PHI is now stored and transmitted electronically through the Internet. Even care delivery has transitioned to the cloud; telehealth, or clinical care delivered through a secure video conference is rising in popularity. How does HIPAA compliance work in the digital era? How can providers ensure HIPAA compliant video conferencing when serving their patients today?
