The importance of HIPAA compliance when choosing telemedicine solutions

Let’s take a closer look at what it means to be HIPAA-compliant and how telemedicine equipment distributors are prioritizing safety and security via telemedicine:

Secure communications through telemedicine

Securing personal health information is more critical than ever before, because telemedicine systems make regularly assessing, discussing and sharing information a normal process nowadays. According to HIT Consultant, the Security Rule requires that technical safeguards are put into such systems to keep parties with unauthorized access out of private information. That’s why discussing personal medical matters with physicians and caregivers via text and email may be frowned upon – these channels are not HIPAA compliant, which could encourage a data breach. Additionally, communication outlets such as Skype or FaceTime are also an issue – covered entities are required to have a Business Associate Agreement in order to be HIPAA compliant. Communicating through telemedicine, however, is safe because the information is sealed by the Security Rule.

Factors to consider when evaluating telemedicine technology

When evaluating potential telemedicine for your organization, make sure to consider the following factors:

1. Access – Access to the communication of medical data should be restricted to a user database system. This can be self-contained or monitored through an external mechanism.
2. Log user access – Ensure you can document user entry points to ensure HIPAA policies and procedures are being respected.
3. Data in transit encryption – Data transferred between authenticated users must be fully secured.
4. Data at rest encryption – Never permanently store data at rest within the platform – it should never be available outside of the software.

How AMD Global Telemedicine can help

AMD Global Telemedicine has proudly developed HIPAA-compliant telemedicine systems that can improve access to care. All telemedicine technologies meet current national and international privacy and security standards, making them trustworthy telemedicine systems. You can rely on AMD Global Telemedicine to provide easy-to-use, high-quality telehealth technology that prioritizes safety and security.