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Secure Transmissions: 5 Tips for HIPAA Compliant Faxing

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | Secure Transmissions: 5 Tips for HIPAA Compliant FaxingHealthcare workers need to keep the privacy of their patients’ information in mind at all times. That goes for not just in-person communications with patients, caregivers, and other providers but also for information sharing processes like faxing. Since most healthcare organizations still send faxes on a daily basis, all workers should ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) at all times. Read on to find five tips for how to ensure compliance.

Switch to a HIPAA-Compliant Fax Service

Using traditional fax machines made for general use is a great way to wind up in a world of legal trouble. Healthcare facilities that still use traditional fax machines should make the switch to a secure web-based hipaa fax service immediately.

Specialized online fax services designed for the healthcare industry offer a number of security features to ensure HIPAA compliance. They use secure socket layer protocols, at-rest encryption, user authentication, and advanced data center security to ensure that patients’ protected health information (PHI) cannot be accessed by external actors. A good fax service will also keep document transmission logs and record log on/log off events associated with IP addresses for an added level of security.

Never Leave Faxes Unattended

Human error is one of the most common sources of HIPAA violations. Healthcare workers should be trained never to leave faxes that contain PHI or other sensitive information unattended. They must stay at the machines until the fax goes through, then remove the document immediately.

Before sending the fax, healthcare workers should also call patients to ensure that their fax machines are in protected locations. In this case, a protected location can be considered any fax machine located out of the line of sight of the public.

Don’t Forget the Cover Sheet

HIPAA requires healthcare providers to include a cover sheet each time they transmit protected health information. There is no official standard for what must be included on the cover sheet, but at a minimum, it should include the patient’s name, the receiver’s name and fax number, the sender’s name, fax number, and organization, the date and time of sending, and the HIPAA disclaimer. Cover sheets must be used not just when sending traditional faxes but also when using online fax apps, so make sure the app has a protocol in place for attaching cover pages when switching to HIPAA-compliant fax service.

Keep an Audit Trail

Healthcare providers must keep detailed records of all the activity on their systems, whether they use online fax apps or traditional machines. Switching to a HIPAA-compliant fax service makes keeping audit trails much easier since the app should be able to log activity automatically.

HIPAA requires healthcare providers to keep records of audit trails for at least six years. Healthcare facilities that use online fax services should keep raw records for the first six months to one year before compressing them.

Be Aware of PHI Stored Locally

Most healthcare data breaches occur when malicious actors access patients’ PHI on local devices and portable media like laptops and removable drives. Healthcare facilities that are unable to prevent these data breaches may be fined. It’s better to use a cloud-based service that automatically encrypts all documents than to keep on unsecured and unencrypted local devices.

The Bottom Line

HIPAA was designed to protect patients’ sensitive information. Healthcare facilities that do not follow these regulations can be fined and will face substantial damage to their reputations. Make sure all healthcare providers are on the same page about ensuring compliance while faxing sensitive documents.

How employees’ mental health can be looked after during COVID-19

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | How employees' mental health can be looked after during COVID-19Currently, employers are facing the most crucial test in a generation as the COVID-19 pandemic presents a massive threat to the psychological wellbeing of their staff. Remote working, furloughing en masse, and sector-wide uncertainties all pose major challenges to maintaining the mental health of the workforce.

With so many factors at play, from dealing with isolation to financial or health concerns alongside familial and caring commitments, safeguarding employee mental wellbeing is not an easy task. However, there are several initiatives you can take to protect and build mental resilience in your workforce.

Keeping people connected

Good working relationships are critical to both performance and emotional wellbeing. With remote working, there is a very real danger that the physical distance between team members can lead to social and affinity distance. Work becomes more task-focused rather than collaborative and, without face-to-face contact, important friendships and support networks disappear. In this situation, it’s all too easy for employees to feel isolated and overwhelmed.

Encouraging regular communication through online and video meetings, as well as emails and instant messaging, creates opportunities for both collaborative working and socialisation. This helps to retain the human element to the business, mitigating feelings of isolation.

It is also important to check in regularly with staff to discuss performance, as well as their mental and physical health. Allowing them to raise issues and speak freely, means you can offer support if needed and be proactive about potential problems before they occur.

Balancing work and life commitments

Balancing personal and professional life is also important for protecting mental health. However, with remote working, it can be very difficult to manage. With work notifications popping up outside office hours, and the demands of childcare or other significant responsibilities, home and work commitments run the risk of getting tangled up, contributing to stress.

Helping employees set a clear line between work and personal priorities by building mental barriers is key. Employers should encourage their staff to set a designated area of work, where they won’t be interrupted. It’s also important to remind employees of setting a schedule. A daily routine, perhaps starting with a call with a manager or the team, can help give employees an idea of when to begin and finish work. Defining a start and end time ensures they know when it is OK to ‘switch off’, turn away from the screen, and save those emails for the next day.

Highlighting support options

In situations like these, it is paramount that employees are aware of the resources available to them, and that they are encouraged to take advantage of them. Employers should consider building a community page where employees can connect, and HR managers can share tips, such as effective stress management and maintaining work/life balance.

You can also point them towards vital support networks. These might range from company-provided employee assistance programs and counseling services to links to organisations that offer guidance and support. The NHS and MIND are excellent resources you should consider.

Providing helpful resources demonstrates you care, and communicating clearly and openly that employees should not be afraid to seek help if they need it, will help them sleep easier

Beware the media

The way in which we consume our news can also have an adverse effect on our mental wellbeing. Keeping up to date with COVID-19 coverage is tempting and thanks to social media, these stories are highly accessible. However, it’s very easy to get lost in a sea of misinformation and fear.

Though organisations can not directly influence how their workforce is consuming media, leaders can and should provide clarity and guidance to their staff, communicating clearly about the situation and what it means for the organisation.

With the government announcement that employees should continue to work from home where they can, it’s clear that for many, remote working and social distancing will be the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future, prolonging potential dangers to mental health.

Businesses depend on their people, and people need support. If an organisation is to survive and thrive, taking a proactive approach to employee wellbeing – both mental and physical – has to be at the heart of a successful business strategy.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Will JacobsWill Jacobs, a graduate of the London School of Economics, heads social media and authors content at Cezanne HR, a leading supplier of modern Cloud HR and payroll software.

How To Start A Successful Business In A Niche Market

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A lot of businesses now are within a niche area. There are plenty of ways to be successful still. The industry of plumbing for example, is a highly skilled area that will take you some additional steps before you can really see the business flourish. This is because it is a skilled job, as many niche industries are, such as building, architecture, medical equipment manufacturing, car manufacturing and they require a lot of hands on work.

Here are the first fundamental steps for starting in a niche market:

  1. Know your niche.
  2. Get training and experience – this includes knowing about plumbing as well as business and also the implications of hiring staff and their wages, insurance.
  3. Take care of the legalities with the necessary insurance needed and all the important information relating to your businesses’ tax.
  4. Make a business plan and look at what you would like to achieve in the first year or two of business.
  5. Have a unique logo and create a business website to help drive sales – you should look at good web design to ensure that your business is being advertised in the right way.
  6. Generate leads and be a good salesperson.
  7. Have a license – this may vary from state to state, but often you’ll find that being a trade qualified plumber isn’t enough to obtain your licence. You may also need to prove you are capable in business, whether that is exams or additional skill sets that you can prove on paper and in practice.

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | How To Start A Successful Business In A Niche Market

Look At What You Need

If you are looking at the world of plumbing for example, you are going to need to look at a big supply of tools and equipment. With wholesale plumbing supplies, you can be sure that your business is well equipped to deal with all types of plumbing situations and that you can do your job well with good quality supplies. You want to ensure that you have reliable equipment and tools that will serve you well. You want to keep your customers happy with being able to carry out the work effectively and efficiently without any problems. This will keep your customers coming back time after time. This depends on how well you do the job, your expertise and the staff that you employ.

Another important thing to remember is that when you are working as a business, you will need a team of people behind you, so employing the right people is vital. You need friendly and reliable team members who will be qualified for the job and be able to prove their skills as well as offering a personable attitude to customers. Without this, your business is dead in the water. You must be able to look at the positives of business too, because you will need a lot of focus and determination. Look at the competition. What companies are you currently competing with before you start your business? What are they doing differently to you and how can you outsmart them and do better?

Starting any business is an exciting prospect but there are some additional things to consider in the plumbing industry. Start small, know your craft and see the benefits.

The Vitality of String to JSON in Web Development

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, The Vitality of String to JSON in Web Development

The JSON which is an open-source and publicly available format for exchanging data and information across servers and to browsers and web applications, is the most common format for the web developers. Different techniques are deployed while saving data in this format. The method that involves is storing data in the form of arrays, objects, and even nested objects. It is considered as the most convenient way for the interchanging of data. You might know that servers only understand text-based formats; therefore, JSON is known as the most suitable way to correspond with servers. You can convert strings to JSON easily without even investing your time and money. There are many free strings to JSON online tools available on the web.

JSON – Exchanging Data with Servers

The string to JSON editor also assists you in improving the overall outlook of the files as well. You can easily rearrange the entire code, look for the outcomes, and alter the data according to your requirements. The tool comes with many programs, which makes it easy for you to modify the code easily as it displays the code in a tree format, which means it is aligned in a hierarchical way by containing values within values. People often argue in the web development sphere, which format is better XML or JSON. It is because people who are still using XML for coordination with the server, don’t prefer to switch to JSON.

You can erase all the unnecessary commas and spaces from the code with the aid of this tool. The available web tools don’t require any specific skill set to use them. In fact, they can be accessed from any browser but with a stable internet connection to get the best results out of it. Additionally, along with Windows, you can access them on other operating systems like Linux, iOS, Android, Mac, etc. and there’s no need for extra memory and the processing speed.

String to JSON – Expeditious Utility

String to JSON conversion wasn’t easy for the web developers at all before the inception of this tool. It has really made the task easier for them, and they’re now saving their time as well. The JSON, which is popular for its lightweight nature, doesn’t require you to add attributes and closing/ending tags. Along with it, the format is way more advanced than XML because it doesn’t require being extensive. But you can face trouble when dealing with hefty data and lengthy files. Still, in such cases, the editor and formatter utilities are also available for the users over the web.

You would be amazed to know that the internet is flooded with such tools, and you won’t have to invest your time in searching for any of the tools. The search engines will instantly fetch the results for you in a matter of instance. Now you don’t need to manually convert string to JSON as it is possible with the availability of web utilities.

COVID-19 Has Revealed What We Need More of in Business: The Female Brain

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StrategyDriven Diversity and Inclusion Article | COVID-19 Has Revealed What We Need More of in Business: The Female BrainThe coronavirus crisis is a wake-up call. It’s waking us up to what we need to pay attention to in order to live sustainable, healthy lives on this planet. It’s waking us up to the global leadership and cooperation that’s required to ensure our human survival. And it’s highlighting how the female brain is highly adapted to the actions that are needed — right now.

Across the globe, we’re witnessing shining examples of women leading nations through this crisis (here’s to you, Germany and New Zealand) and instances of the worst kind of dominant male behavior here in the USA.

Women, men, and the balance of power

In each of these cases, women have expressed their power differently than men. But why? Differences in neural connectivity and hormones combine to shape male and female power behaviors. Modern brain scanning reveals that neural connectivity in a female brain activates broadly across the left and right hemispheres as the brain analyzes the many facets of a problem. In contrast, male brain connectivity runs with equal intensity from front to back, focused inside of each hemisphere, but with little connection between the two sides of the brain, giving men a singular focus.

Neurochemically, women’s brains and bodies contain far greater quantities of oxytocin, the bonding hormone. For men, the quantities of testosterone are far higher. Under stress, men’s testosterone levels go up, and oxytocin goes down. In women, it’s the opposite; the stress response increases oxytocin.

Because of these combinations, women and men tend to have different takes on the world. Put simply: women create solutions; men fix problems. Women, by nature, are more inclined to connect, collaborate, and communicate. Men with higher testosterone tend to care more about their place in the pecking order.

To be clear, none of these responses are fully married to either sex. How we respond and react are unique to us, with our life experiences shaping these basic biological underpinnings. But we all know that women and men generally have very different ways of living in the world, based on millions of years of evolution. And, as we are experiencing with COVID-19, you cannot argue with Mother Nature.

Right now, a broad, collaborative, and connected perspective—one that sees the whole and isn’t about competition, ego, and turf wars — is exactly what’s required.

Our ‘new normal’ requires female ways of leading

Research shows that many pre-COVID-19 corporate cultures favored male-oriented brains, having been largely created by certain kinds of men for similar kinds of men. But in this new world of working remotely, female ways of leading are creating the space for neural diversity to speak up and find its voice.

Women who were often silent in big office meetings are speaking up online. So are the less-alpha men, along with introverts. Power and status symbols have been stripped away. Working from home is a great leveler and liberator, and it’s allowed female leadership to access the best of all the brains in the business.

COVID-19 has caused us to hit the pause button. To stop and think. Just like the impact of women coming into the workforce after World War II, we are experiencing the positive effects of a different kind of leadership at work. These coronavirus days are allowing female power to shine. There will be no going back, and the world will be better for it.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Kate LanzKate Lanz is the founder and CEO of Mindbridge, a UK-based global leadership company specializing in the power of modern neuroscience and releasing latent brain potential. She is the author of All the Brains in the Business: The Engendered Brain in the 21st Century Organisation. Learn more at mindbridge.co.uk.