Telehealth was growing rapidly prior to 2020. In 2019, the global telehealth market was valued at $45.5 billion. Now, because we’re all a little more digitally savvy and have an increasing demand for virtual meetings, that number is expected to rise to $175.5 billion by 2026.
In the middle of COVID-19, the Office of Civil Rights stated it would not penalize providers for noncompliance issues as they leveraged telehealth strategies during the pandemic.
Many companies are reinventing themselves in the middle of COVID-19. A custom framing company went into the business of producing face shields. Meals on Wheels has scaled its services by as much as 89 percent in a matter of weeks.
Anytime you change your business direction, you open yourself up to new security risks.
In the middle of a crisis, everybody pitches in and does what they can.
Non-medical companies like Tesla, General Motors, and Ford all have jumped in to leverage their manufacturing skills to produce medical supplies needed for fighting COVID-19. On the surface, that seems like a good thing.
There are many reasons why it pays to bring VoIP technology into your practice.
It can give you greater flexibility in how you operate
It can lower your costs
It can give you faster, more reliable communication
It can also give you a HIPAA violation.
A compliance program is designed to ensure your practice complies with all laws and regulations that apply to it.
If it’s an effective compliance program, you have someone in charge to ensure the organization is following the proper guidelines, to maintain safety and security.
What does work look like post-COVID-19?
Even before 2020, the office environment was changing. You could see patients anywhere you had internet access. You could update patient files from your phone just as easily as sitting behind the desk in your office.
You run a small practice. You haven’t thought about your phone system in years. It works. Why change something that isn’t broken, especially when there are so many other things to concern yourself with?
Yet now, you’re starting to question everything.
Technology can be frustrating in many ways, especially when it comes time to upgrade. You want the latest on the market, but at what cost? The moment you make a purchase, something newer comes along. Should you wait?
That’s a game IT and management have been playing for years.
What happens to PHI data right now during the pandemic? Who is it shared with? Who has access to it? What rights do patients have? Or medical providers?
A new bill has been presented in congress called the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act. It’s designed to protect health data collected during emergency situations.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the entire global economy to a screeching halt. As we write this post, almost all major countries of the world are under lockdown, forcing everyone to stay indoors. Only essential services remain open and people have been strictly advised to stay within the safety of their homes.