What Does HIPAA Compliance Mean?

Virtual classrooms continue to grow in popularity and necessity for businesses and industries across the globe. As this demand continues to increase, certain precautions are essential to ensuring your online classroom provider can help keep you in compliance with industry standards. One of these areas is HIPAA compliance. For many organizations, especially those in the healthcare industry, a secure virtual classroom isn’t just a nice feature; it’s a must-have.
So, what is HIPAA certification? And why does the inclusion of HIPAA compliance denote the best virtual classroom software for healthcare? We’ll explore these questions and more as we discuss the importance of secure virtual training and other top-use scenarios.

What is HIPAA certification?

According to the HIPAA Journal, “HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] certification is the process in which an independent third-party organization audits a medical organization or practice to certify and confirm that the physical, technical, and administrative safeguards required for HIPAA compliance have been met, with the award of a formal document that signals the completion of a HIPAA compliance process.”

Why does HIPAA certification matter in a secure virtual classroom?

Aside from best practices for securing your virtual classroom being a must if you’re in the healthcare industry, it also brings peace of mind to your organization’s partners and customers.

As Rob Porter of CoSo Cloud notes, “By working with [a virtual classroom platform] that has a HIPAA Seal of Compliance, a company can be assured that the [platform] has implemented the necessary safeguards to protect its protected health information (PHI). This can help the company avoid potential HIPAA violations, fines, and legal action. It can also help the company build trust with its customers, who will be reassured that their PHI is being handled securely and competently.”

How a secure virtual classroom gets your team ahead

There are various impactful ways that a secure virtual classroom can improve your organization’s efforts, including facilitating one-on-one patient appointments virtually or even bringing together rare-ailment individuals for a support group spanning the globe. In addition to these patient-focused initiatives, there are very important team-oriented advantages to a secure virtual classroom.

Having well-trained staff who can effectively navigate your healthcare information technology is essential today. Through secure virtual training, your organization can ensure every team member is appropriately educated on their role and stays up-to-date with constantly evolving healthcare policies and technical upgrades.

Not only do secure virtual training platforms allow your team members to stay informed and upskilled from any location, the analytical insights available to leadership bring an increased level of program effectiveness and team accountability. See that multiple users are stalling out at the same point in a training session? Use this to diagnose and alter the experience. Has everyone but one team member completed their most recent mandatory training? Reach out with a gentle prod to get your team compliance to 100 percent.

All of this exists with the backdrop of enhanced protection and improved data privacy—bringing your organization transparently into compliance with security regulations while benefiting from the trust and credibility gained by HIPAA certification.

Take the next step with a secure virtual classroom

As telehealth services and healthcare technologies continue to grow in prevalence and sophistication, security must be at the heart of an organization’s advancements. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ telehealth page emphasizes this in no uncertain terms: “Covered health care providers and health plans must use technology vendors that comply with the HIPAA Rules and will enter into HIPAA business associate agreements in connection with the provision of their video communication products or other remote communication technologies for telehealth.”

The great news for healthcare organizations is that best-in-class secure virtual classroom platforms already have HIPAA certification and your organization should use this as the first filter when seeking out a secure virtual training platform that is best for your team. These top-notch platforms also possess robust features and tools that will allow you to engage your team members (via virtual training, upskilling, and reskilling) and patients more effectively than ever.

Ready to see how a secure virtual classroom platform can transform your organization’s internal and external experience while providing you with the peace of mind and legal compliance you require? Reach out to a Class team member today, and let’s take your virtual engagement and results to the next—and most secure—level.