HIPAA and Ninsaúde Apolo

Identity theft, computer memory corruption, hackers, and other information losses can be avoided - these are just some of the situations that all companies that receive, store and transmit information electronically go through daily. Medical clinics also face these problems, as patient information is confidential and must be protected against leaks, misuse, or unavailability of access.

Within the subject of electronic security, HIPAA provides 7 articles aimed at basic security standards that professionals and health plans, as well as third parties that deal with confidential patient information (EPHI), must develop and follow to keep information safe from attempts at theft, alteration or even natural disasters that may affect access to them.

If you want to understand in general some of the subjects that HIPAA addresses, you can check out our blog "HIPAA - Compliance that makes your clinic safer".

It is also necessary to understand that safety is not a static theme or a one-time project, but a dynamic one, which undergoes technological changes according to advances in the area, so clinics and health professionals should always keep in mind the updating of safety parameters with what most recent is available on the market.

In this blog, we are going to talk about the security levels that the Ninsaúde Apolo software completely meets within the HIPAA prerogatives and tips that can improve the safety of your clinic.

Apolo and HIPAA

Access - One of the main points, which is highlighted in the HIPAA regulations, is the individual access controls and historic access report, both present in Ninsaúde Apolo. Where each employee has their individual username and password, and the clinic administration can generate a report with the history of access to the system.

Another important detail regarding access is that only account administrators (that is, those legally responsible for the clinic) can create new users and consequently give access to them, as well as it is also possible to disable users who should no longer have access to the system, as former employees or employees who are on vacation.

Apolo also has an automatic logoff after 15 minutes if the internet connection is lost, or if the user closes the browser tab.

Restrictions - Often, in larger clinics, some of the employees should not have or need access to information about patients' medical records, or about the clinic's financial area. In Ninsaúde Apolo it is possible to restrict complete screens or just specific parts, as the account administrator deems necessary by creating groups of restrictions. For example, if the receptionist in your clinic cannot access the finances, it is possible to block the user's access to that specific menu.

Another important tip is that although most of the paperwork is gone, thanks to the use of medical software, it is still necessary to restrict physical access to certain areas of the clinic, for example, if you have a file or documentation room, it is necessary to keep it locked, or with restricted access notices. Monitoring cameras can also help not only in the clinic's external security but also in the internal one.

Backup - Another point addressed by HIPAA is data backup, since access to them must be fully available under any conditions, it is necessary to ensure that your software makes these backups. Apolo already has this, making daily backups so that no information is lost.

In addition to the fact that, in the event of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or any other natural phenomenon that affects the physical integrity of the clinic, there is no need to worry, since our servers are scattered around the world, do not have the risk of the system becoming unable to provide information if necessary, or out of use while the clinic is closed.

Training - To perform functions properly, employees and administrators need to have adequate training in all systems and procedures used by the clinic. Not only in how to use the management software, but also in the clinic's security policies and good ethical practices.

The tip here is that it is important not only for the clinic to have a way for its patients to leave suggestions and complaints, but also for the software used in the clinic to have something similar, with Ninsaúde Apolo you can have both, through satisfaction surveys for your patients to respond, and with the suggestions card, where you, the Apolo user can suggest new features and suggestions for improvements.

Contracts - HIPAA places as one of its requirements that all clinics, health plans, or third parties that come into contact with patients' confidential medical information have between themselves a contract or term that delimits responsibilities and competencies regarding the security of that information.

In the Ninsaúde Apolo terms of use, you will find in more detail some of the following items:

• Warning about not using the system for criminal actions, maintaining the confidentiality of information - unless with a court order,
• Ninsaúde employees do not provide any type of information to employees of our customers without the administrator's prior authorization - just to the administrator who owns the account,
• We guarantee that the system works 95% of the time,
• Access passwords are created only by the administrator,
• Ninsaúde is also responsible for data privacy, however, we are not responsible for breaches of information on account of authorized employees, agents, or even third parties (hackers) - outside of technical predictability.

Keep following the blog to understand more about HIPAA and our upcoming updates.

Still don't know the medical software Ninsaúde Apolo? Get in touch and request a demo.