Way back in 1996, Bill Clinton signed into law a piece of legislation titled the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law set national standards for the electronic transfer of patient records and other sensitive information to ensure that patients don’t have their privacy violated.
Technology has changed in the almost 30 years since this law was passed. More and more medical practices are moving to the cloud to cut the maintenance and electricity costs, not to mention the large sum of up-front capital, of having servers on-site.
But there are reasonable concerns about the security of information stored on the cloud. One of the most popular programs connected to the cloud, Microsoft Office 365, is used in many healthcare organizations. Is Office 365 secure enough to comply with the regulations established in HIPAA?
Yes, yes it is. HIPAA support is built into Office 365 and Microsoft is the only major cloud provider (the others being Google, IBM, Yahoo, etc.) that will sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that guarantees their security practices are up to HIPAA standards.
So how does your healthcare organization benefit from Office 365? Here’s a few ways:
- Easily access your email and share your files via your cloud-based Office 365 services like Outlook, Word, and Excel – simply go online on any computer or device and just log in.
- Scale your subscription to your exact needs, so you pay only for the size and scope of service that you need.
- Sync up your emails, contacts, files, and calendars across any number of devices and users, as you need, so you can stay more organized and also encourage collaboration and sharing among your team members.
Want to learn more about HIPAA and the cloud? Contact our team of healthcare IT experts at (954) 717-1990 or send us an email at sales@laninfotech.com. LAN Infotech can help you implement Office 365 to streamline your day-to-day work life while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
LAN Infotech is a Microsoft Cloud Services Provider, IT Managed Support company and a leader in helping law firms, nonprofits and medical organizations deploy cloud solutions, manage computer networks, keep data protected and top technology management company. Businesses like yours need technology support to run highly-effective organizations.
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