When was the last time you considered your shredding program? Shredding is sometimes disregarded in a hospital's overall waste stream. Healthcare staff are well aware of the dangers of needlesticks and improper medical waste disposal, but the risk of a data breach is equally serious.
In such a heavily regulated profession, liability lurks around every corner, and careful handling of protected health information (PHI) is critical. It's time to investigate secure and compliant document shredding in healthcare.
What Laws Control PHI Confidentiality?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996 to regulate how patients' health information is used and released. It applies to all healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses that transport or generate health information, regulating PHI confidentiality and ensuring the secure destruction of any physical or digital data. A data breach can reveal PHI, putting an entity at risk of breaching HIPAA, and violations can result in fines of up to $1.5 million per instance. The Security Rule under HIPAA refers to the administrative, technical, and physical measures in place to preserve the privacy of PHI in all forms.
In addition to HIPAA, the FACTA ensures the accuracy and privacy of consumers' financial information and mandates effective workplace policies for the secure destruction of consumer information to prevent identity theft and unauthorized access to it. The law compels creditors and monitoring agencies to secure consumers' personally identifiable information. Violations can lead to civil lawsuits, $1,000 state fines, and $2,500 federal fines per violation/piece of paper.
What Are The Implications of a Data Breach?
The US Department of Health and Human Services has well-defined policies regarding data breaches and reporting. According to HHS, 541 breaches occurred in 2023. In just 11 of these breaches, 70.3 million people were affected. HIPAA compliance is required to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information, safeguard patient confidentiality, manage risk, and maintain regulatory compliance. The risk of a data breach can jeopardize not only personal patient data but also the entire healthcare system.
Given the serious consequences of a data breach in the sector, organizations must take routine and consistent steps to assist in maintaining the safety of protected patient information. A large majority of healthcare institutions lack adequate systems to protect personal information, and many do not undertake routine risk assessments of their existing processes. It is the healthcare industry's job to provide comprehensive patient care, which includes safeguarding their most sensitive information.
How Shredding Partners Promote Compliance
Daily, any document printed or developed in the healthcare setting is almost certain to include some type of protected information. To protect patients and themselves, organizations must establish protocols for effective paper document control and destruction. The most effective approach to meet these demands is to use a licensed document shredding service program. A shredder partner will be able to provide security and compliance via an easy service. Professional partners are certified and adhere to all HIPAA rules, providing:
Industry-specific safe shredding containers.
Implemented a documented collection schedule for confidential materials and followed industry rules for destruction.
A Certificate of Destruction (CoD) for any compliance audits.
The CoD includes the chain of custody, the date and time of destruction, the location, and any witnesses to the destruction. In addition to the core program, a shredder partner can offer bulk cleanouts, hard drive/media destruction, service reporting and tracking, container inventory, and recycling sustainability activities, as well as generate efficiency throughout the healthcare system.
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