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Smart phones, social media and the Internet are a boon to modern living. Now more than ever, traveling professionals like locum tenens doctors have the tools to stay connected with family, patients and friends while on assignment.
But those tools come at a cost for healthcare professionals. Remembering both the intent and long reach of HIPAA regulations is important when balancing connectedness on the road with information security.
What does cloud computing mean for locums
For most of us, "the cloud" is something the IT guys refer to with incomprehensible acronyms and manage with arcane technical rituals. The cloud is an unknowable computer heaven where our files live when we click save.
If you share this view, you might be surprised how reliant you are on cloud-based systems.
When you log on to Facebook, type out a tweet on your phone or upload a photo to Instagram, you're using the cloud. The same thing applies if you save files to a Dropbox folder. Basically, any information available online and not stored locally on your hard drive is probably living in a cloud-based system.
This has different implications for healthcare professionals than it does for college students.
HIPAA compliance, then and now
When HIPAA was introduced back in 1996, it provided clear guidelines on how providers should protect patient information. Information systems were required to:
- Protect individually identifiable health information.
- Follow national security standards.
- Protect information used for analysis and research.
More recently, the 2013 HIPAA Omnibus Rule pushed these requirements out to third-party business associates, like cloud service providers. When working with patient information, you need to know – and trust – who you're dealing with.
How to stay compliant
For locum tenens doctors, it's important to understand that there are physical, technical and audit requirements for the transmission and storage of data. The safest course of action is to keep information and communications strictly within workplace systems.
As a rule of thumb, maintain professionalism. Stay connected, but separate business and personal communications when on social media.