Working From Home With Patient Information

Since technology has advanced it has opened doors that we never thought were possible. There are people now that can work from their homes. Once they have the virtual private networking set up then they have secure web pages and portals. They still have to abide by the Simple Health Tips policy and regulations when it comes to addressing patient health information and its privacy. In 2005 the HIPAA security regulations became effective and everyone needed to ensure full compliance. When this happened it opened the door for people to telecommute.
Once the person checks on board and receives the training in all security areas including the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) they are able to work with the Information Management department and equipment company supplies. Between HIPAA training and training covering electronic patient health information the employee is then capable of sending secure messaging and digitally signed emails from home. The types of security you are looking for are against computer hackers, are people who inappropriately access or disable computer systems or programs.
This is one of the main reasons there are firewalls protecting the network. It is to prevent unauthorized access. Viruses are another concern and threat to HIPAA and electronic patient health information. This is one reason you see the push to maintain a current anti-virus program on your system. This is something the company normally provides the employees. Each time the updates come out, simply download the updates to your computer, nothing could be easier to maintain.
HIPAA training covers subjects that include email attachments and what to open and what to delete. It also mentions what to be aware of and what be suspicious especially when it comes from someone you do not know. Do not open it and delete it. Use approved email messaging programs. As you will learn in the HIPAA Body Care Products Price List training, even though HIPAA does not mandate encryption is does require the transmission be protected from unauthorized access. So, where ever you maintain your workstation if you are sending emails you may want to consider password protecting them if they contain patient health information to be safe.