Remote Security, E-commerce, and Telehealth: Adapting to COVID-19 Through Technology By Cassi Price, Manager of Marketing Strategy, VGM Forbin “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
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t’s safe to say that we’ve all been personally challenged and changed by the pandemic of 2020. When this is all said and done, you’ll ask yourself— did your business rise to the challenge and adapt technology to accommodate new patient needs, or did you stand by while the world changed around you? If you’re in the group that’s rising to the challenge, you’re likely in the middle of a transition. Changing processes, training staff on new software, updating your website, and finding new ways to connect with your patients via telehealth and e-commerce are just a few things you’re doing to adopt. As a business, you’re running exercises on how you’ll adjust to the many possible scenarios out there about how we’ll “return to normal,” or what the new normal will be.
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Take a step back to make sure you’re protecting what made your business unique and successful in the first place.
relaxed guidelines that may leave your business to stagger staff that will be in the office and staff that will be home. You may also anticipate that a flareup of the coronavirus in your state will lead to your staff transitioning back to remote work and patients back to telehealth. Either way, you’ll be keeping those subscriptions to Office 365, RingCentral, Zoom, and/ or Continuum. Before you commit to the annual subscription, you need to ask these questions to remain in compliance. Ask Your New Vendors: •
When was your last risk assessment performed, and would you be willing to send me a copy of the report?
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What steps do you take to protect the ePHI you’ll maintain?
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While you’re doing the right things, when you’re deep into this transition it’s possible that you can’t see the forest for the trees. This means you need to take a step back to make sure you’re protecting what made your business unique and successful in the first place, and then be extremely vigilant in prioritizing employee/ patient safety, data security, and patient experience. So, let’s take a step back and examine the technology transitions you’re likely in the middle of and address the questions you need to ask to ensure you’re staying on track. For Employees’ Work From Anywhere Software— Qualifying Compliant Vendors
While many states saw months of strict social distancing measures, we’re dipping our toes into more
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Are you willing to sign or provide a business associate agreement?
Any software company that is maintaining, transmitting, or storing ePHI needs to sign a BAA with you.
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Any software company that is maintaining, transmitting, or storing electronic protected health information (ePHI) needs to sign this agreement with you. If you’re talking about a patient during a conferencing meeting, you’re transmitting ePHI. You may need to go through this with any conferencing companies, chat software, and file-sharing vendors such as Dropbox or OneDrive. In fact, free Gmail accounts don’t include a business associate agreement (BAA) and are not HIPAAcompliant. You’re required to purchase G Suite to access those resources. In our experience, almost all free software and service providers will not sign a BAA, so do your due diligence when moving forward with these new technology providers.
VGM Playbook: Technology and the Patient Care Continuum: Guide to Remote Work
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