While healthcare facility managers continue their efforts to ensure their buildings contribute to the health and safety of patients and staff battling the COVID-19 pandemic, IT managers in these facilities face a challenge of their own — ensuring the safety of critical, sensitive data used by healthcare employees working remotely.

The modern workplace is experiencing a massive transformation, according to Healthcare IT News. An estimated 44 percent of employees are working from home, and employers expect the number of full-time workers who remain at home permanently to triple that of pre-pandemic figures, according to a recent survey. The shift will impact productivity and company culture, as well as policies and operations across finance, HR, IT and countless other functions.

The stakes are even higher in healthcare, which must consider the way a remote workforce impacts HIPAA compliance. In the survey, 15 percent of respondents were from the healthcare sector. Only two of every ten respondents said they have provided adequate tools and resources to support employees working remotely long term. This has the potential to create an array of challenges to fulfilling HIPAA requirements.

Under HIPAA, any covered entity or business associate that collects, processes or stores protected health information is required to implement security and privacy controls to protect its confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA)

The good news is that the law is not overly prescriptive in the way companies approach privacy and security as long as the end result is maintaining CIA. This gives IT managers flexibility in the way they approach compliance and determine the specific policies and processes that fit their needs.

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