Introduction
Sage Intacct recently retained Porter Research to conduct a market study targeting financial and executive leadership within non-acute facilities, including ambulatory groups, radiology groups, surgery centers and skilled nursing facilities, to better gauge their understanding of Protected Health Information (PHI) and HIPAA compliance as it relates to finance and accounting professionals in their organizations.
The study revealed that while most respondents agreed that protecting patient PHI was important, they fail to recognize that a significant portion of their daily responsibilities requires their financial staff to access PHI – resulting in an increased risk of exposure, data breaches and ultimately HIPAA violations.
In addition, the study showed that most respondents rely heavily on written policies and employee education as the primary means for avoiding HIPAA violations. This, however, leaves room for human error, which can be minimized in the finance and accounting departments with the implementation of modern HIPAA-compliant financial management systems.
This paper reveals five major findings from the research that will help financial leaders better understand their risks when it comes to HIPAA violations in their own departments and gives practical advice on how to mitigate these risks going forward.
