Healthcare professionals are bound by patient confidentiality. A doctor who discloses personal data can be under review and even lose his licensing because of being unethical. Therefore, it is a distant thought that doctors would purposefully breach this trust relationship they have with patients.
Although that is true, the system used by the healthcare organization may be the single point of failure. Can SOC 2 compliance intervene and ensure that patient personal data is secure?
Are healthcare organizations required to conduct a SOC 2 audit?
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) that oversees the implementation of SOC 2 compliance states the requirements of organizations that need to be compliant. Any company that handles customer sensitive data or financial records should be SOC 2 compliant.
Healthcare organizations handle personal and sensitive information and although they are not bound by law to be compliant, they should consider pursuing it. No company is compelled by law to conduct a SOC 2 audit but doing so can benefit both the organization and the customers.
Preventing cyberattacks
There are many things a healthcare organization needs to worry about, like ensuring that they have adequate supplies and that patients are well-taken care of. Subsequently, cybersecurity might be the last thing on their minds and they most probably are not fully equipped with the necessary skills. To reduce organizational strain, you can use trustworthy third-party software to secure the organization’s systems.
JupiterOne has the best product offers to help you secure your healthcare organization from very sophisticated cyberattacks. Doing so can save you a lot of money in the long-run that would be used when trying to remedy the aftermath of a successful attack.
Assuring patients about the safety of their data
One of the major reasons why healthcare organizations might need SOC 2 compliance is that it gives a level of guarantee to patients that they are data is secure. Customers are concerned about their medical history being leaked to other third-parties.
Being compliant will give them that guarantee that you won’t purposefully share their personal data. It also guarantees them that the highest level of security systems is protecting their data. That might lead to more customers converting to your service because of the trust principles you have implemented.
Healthcare industry involves financial transactions
Customers pay their medical bills directly to the hospital and some patients may need to pay in small monthly installments. That means healthcare organizations are also involved in keeping financial records relating to customers.
Therefore, that makes them eligible to have a SOC 2 audit conducted and get the certification if their controls are good enough. If cyber attackers were to penetrate the system you use to keep financial records, they might have access to other privileged information. To prevent that from happening, implement SOC 2 compliant systems to keep the data secure.
Proving you are regulatory compliant
Pursuing a SOC 2 audit can do more than just secure your systems and ensure that the financial records are stored accordingly. Being SOC 2 compliant will also prove that you are also working under the respective regulatory boards and codes of conduct.
For example, SOC 2 compliance proves that the company is most certainly HITECH, HIPAA, and PCI compliant. Therefore, it can be trusted easier by customers and other industry professionals should the need to refer their patients arise. In light of this fact, being SOC 2 compliant can help you increase your revenue exponentially.