Privacy protection and cybersecurity in healthcare are essential topics to discuss inside therapy practices. Read on to discover how CounSol.com takes additional steps to protect the security of the psychotherapy electronic medical records stored in our software system.
Last year, data breaches in the healthcare field hit an all-time high. In 2021, 45 million people were impacted by health-related cybercrime attacks, up from 34 million in 2020. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported an increase in cybercrime hacking of 41% from 2020 to 2021, specifically affecting specialty clinics such as therapy practices.
Why Is Healthcare Cybercrime At An All-Time High?
Part of this uptick in cybercrime may be post-pandemic related. Fewer people working in IT healthcare departments may have caused overlooked routine security measures and internal or third-party data breaches to go undetected for extended periods. These issues have caused more individuals to be exposed to cybercrime.
What Measures Actively Protect Psychotherapy Electronic Medical Records?
There are several important ways that therapy practices can actively protect the security of psychotherapy electronic medical records:
HIPAA-Compliance: The most crucial aspect of securing EMR data is to ensure that a software platform is HIPAA-compliant. Software that is considered HIPAA-compliant takes all necessary steps to protect the privacy and security of users through providing secure hosting services, messaging solutions, and cloud storage options.
Here at CounSol.com, we have taken extra steps beyond simply complying with the basic HIPAA requirements:
- Our servers are in a Tier-IV data center that meets SSAE 16 compliance, HITRUST compliance, ISO 27001 compliance, and PCI 2.0 compliance.
- Our internal systems comply with PCI (Payment Card Industry) standards.
- All traffic is required to be encrypted with 256 bits using SSL (Secure Socket Layer).
- Data is backed up hourly with 256-bit encryption, and no sensitive information is sent via email.
Communicate Through Protected Portals: Overall, online access to electronic medical records benefits patients and healthcare practices. When storing this confidential information online, a critical component is restricting access via private and protected login portals. Information solely shared through secure online portals ensures further data protection due to additional access control measures.
The CounSol.com software platform utilizes secure personal client portals to protect patient data and medical records. Protected email, instant messaging, notes, and telehealth appointments occur directly from a therapist’s administrative portal to a client’s secure online portal.
Automate Security Tasks: While online information access can be a pain point for cybersecurity, human error can also play a role. When essential security tasks are automated, it diminishes the occurrence of accidentally overlooked data breaches. It also lessens the negative impact of a thinning pool of IT professionals in the healthcare field.
The complete practice management system offered at CounSol.com implements encryption technology into our software platform to protect sensitive data. Our system also utilizes automated data backup features to ensure sensitive EMR files are protected and secured at each hour of the day or night.
Back-Up Data Regularly: Along with protecting sensitive personal data from a cybercrime breach, another component of cybersecurity is guarding data, records, and information against being misplaced. Therapy practices must ensure that psychotherapy electronic medical records are backed up regularly so no information is lost.
At CounSol.com, our software keeps all EMR data, client notes, records, treatment plans, appointments, and bill pay routinely protected, encrypted, and backed up at our Tier IV data center.
Protect The Privacy Of Your Practice With CounSol.com
At CounSol.com, safeguarding client and counselor information is our top priority. Contact us today if you are interested in learning more about the steps that our team takes to protect the privacy of your practice and patients. Sign up for a free 14-day trial to experience the CounSol.com software platform for yourself.
