Hello, Voice Security Compliance? HIPAA Calling, and It’s Not Good News
By Scott Morikawa, Virtual Chief Information Officer, Iconic IT
As solutions for phone systems continue to evolve, they allow call recording, voicemail to email, mobile apps, SMS/texting to and from your work number, and more. The realization that phone systems also now send, receive and store data just like a File or Email server has raised awareness that it now needs to be included in security and voice security compliance requirements.
HIPAA is Back…Again
HIPAA/HITECH is one of the first to push for this compliance, which leaves the healthcare and business associate companies playing catch up. There are many phone service providers that will say “They can make their service HIPAA compliant,” but there are only a few that actually are compliant “out of the box” and willing to sign a BAA.
The primary difference that makes a phone service HIPAA compliant is whether or not the phone servers and storage of data is encrypted at rest.
How to Vet a Phone Provider for Voice Security Compliance
If security or compliance is important to you, I would recommend staying away from a provider that says “We can make our service HIPAA compliant” as it will require your servers to allocate additional storage. It’s also a sign there is some maturing that vendor needs to do to compete in a much more security aware world.
Uh Oh…How Much is This Going to Cost Me?
One of the first questions I get asked is “will this cost me more?” On occasion it will, but the majority of the time I see more often than not, with the right solution and design, my customers have not only increased security, capabilities and efficiency, but were able to save money on their monthly bill.
Telecommunications is ever evolving, but there are more options out there than most people realize. Some of the better vendors spend more money on security and technology than on marketing, and these are the ones to have on your side.
Iconic IT Knows HIPAA
Iconic IT knows HIPAA, and we have their Seal of Compliance to prove it. We have dozens of years of experience dealing with healthcare regulations and understand how complex these rules can be, especially with so many healthcare office workers telecommuting.
Voice security compliance is just the latest to a series of never-ending HIPAA requirement changes. With penalties ranging from lawsuits to massive fines and even jail time, can you afford to “hope” your practice is compliant?
Contact us for a free, no-obligation network assessment, complete with a dark web scan, and make sure your healthcare practice is staying compliant with HIPAA, HITECH, and all other healthcare industry regulatory agencies.
Stay on top of HIPAA requirements with our free downloadable HIPAA resources, including a HIPAA compliancy checklist and a BYOD checklist.
