Many workplaces nowadays provide their employees with Health Insurance and Accountability Act (HIPAA) training, which was designed to improve the healthcare industry and protect patients’ personal information. In the last few years, multiple healthcare facilities faced legal issues where lawsuits were filed against their personnel because they failed to abide by HIPAA regulations. Because there is no way of telling whether that might happen to you, it is in your best interest to protect your medical care center by all possible means.
In this guide, we will explain why you must provide HIPAA training to all your employees.
Laws and Workplace Requirements are Changing
Everything nowadays is changing. From technology laws to even medical treatments. Radical changes are bound to happen, and you must be privy to all of these changes and adjust your workplace accordingly. When it comes to laws associated with work ethics, you must keep up to date with any changes that can happen to maintain your legal workspace. Routine HIPAA training with the most updated information is a prime example of keeping up to date with the requirements of the workspace, and it will also save you a world of legal issues and complications in the future. A full HIPAA training is more preferred to a singular training or a few manuals.
HIPAA Violations are Hefty
If you don’t know that already, HIPAA’s fines are categorized in tiers depending on the degree of severity of the violations. The HIPAA training specialists at hipaaexams.com point out that you should assess the severity of your violation to understand which tier it will fit in. For instance, tier one’s fines range between $1,000 to $50,000 per violation and are capped at $25,000 per year. If the perpetrator was not aware that they were breaking the law, they would be fined within that tier. As for tier two, the fines fall somewhere between $1,000 and $50,000 per violation and are capped at $250,000 a year. You will be subject to a tier two fine if you have deliberately ignored the rules. Tier three and four’s violations go up to $1.5 million, a sum that will certainly put a dent in your business’s returns, which is why it is vital to provide your employees with HIPAA training.
Untrained Employees Will Reduce Your Trustworthiness
Although the consequences for HIPAA violations are quite costly, there are still several instances in which non-compliance will inadvertently occur due to the employees being not adequately trained. When that happens, your business will be vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches and once a word of this goes out to the public, trust in your brand will be reduced significantly despite your best efforts of promising your clients that this won’t happen again. That’s why you should prevent this from happening in the first place. When your employees are all properly trained, your clients should know that, as this will leave no room for mistrust.
To Increase Company and Employee’s Safety
In the healthcare industry, patient safety and confidentiality must be guaranteed at all costs. Doing anything otherwise will be considered neglectful and is punishable by the law. Just imagine the emotional dilemma a patient has to go through when they find out that their sensitive medical information has been compromised and in the hands of a cybercriminal. This will undoubtedly have a negative impact both on them and you. Add to that that their trust will be irreversibly broken. Consequently, this will have a negative impact on your employees and your company’s reputation, which can deal irreparable damage to your company and your employees’ career. That’s why guaranteeing your safety with the help of HIPAA training is a must.
Prevent Lawsuits
As we mentioned earlier, the violation of personal information can threaten a patient’s life, which is why HIPAA violations can be quite expensive. Due to the moral implications of such violations, you have to expect that your company can be sued and brought to court, something which will extremely damage your reputations in addition to the compensations you will have to pay and the insanely expensive fines. With that said, you can now understand the serious trouble you’ll have to deal with if you were to break the HIPAA regulations. Lawsuits will shake your economic integrity to the core, which will bring your business to the brink of bankruptcy.
Now that you know the importance of HIPAA training, you should take the necessary steps to provide your employees with proper knowledge. Complying with HIPAA regulations can be a bit tricky, but the right training will certainly help you surpass these difficulties. Be sure to create a checklist for care requirements that adheres to HIPAA regulations. If you are not sure of what you are doing, you can always consult a HIPAA trainer or specialist for advice.
