Risk and Compliance Trends: Hot Topics at HCCA

We thought we’d analyze the topics, keynotes, and speaking tracks at the Health Care Compliance Association’s (HCCA) 27th Annual Compliance Institute in Anaheim, California this week.  

The word cloud below—which we created off the speaking tracks at the conference—shows the most common topics are HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance, data privacy and security, employee training, and organizational culture. Each of these areas is crucial for healthcare organizations to continue focusing on while protecting their patients, employees, and reputations. 

During the conference, SAI360 is sharing new research findings and showcasing our modular GRC SaaS solutions. We are excited to join the 2,000 plus healthcare compliance professionals from around the world to learn about the latest trends and challenges in healthcare compliance. 

Most Common Themes

The following were the most common themes via the event’s speakers and agenda, highlighted in order of importance: 

First and foremost, risk in compliance is a hot topic. This is important to focus on for healthcare organizations because it can significantly impact the organization’s bottom line, reputation, and patient care. 

Assessing organizational risk via early preparation is critical. As we previously shared: “Don’t think for a moment that your organization is uninteresting to cybercriminals. No business is too small, too unimportant, or too irrelevant to be a target. Breaches are posing an ever-growing risk for all businesses. Failure to respond urgently and transparently to a data breach can have dire consequences.” 

Another phrase common across the HCCA conference agenda is data privacy and security—essential for all organizations, but critical for healthcare organizations that handle sensitive patient data. Healthcare organizations need robust data security measures to protect patient data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, and other threats. 

“With an estimated 2.5 quintillion—a number followed by 30 zeros—of bytes of digital information being generated every day and set to accelerate as automated cars, sensors, drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) introduce new formats at a rapid-fire pace, consumers are hyper-aware of their data and how it’s being used (or misused),” from one of our earlier market commentaries. “As the most data-generating, most uploaded, most share-crazy humans in all of history, this means we are also the most monitored, the most data-crunched and, definitely, the most exposed.” 

Another key theme is employee training—an essential part of any healthcare compliance program. Employee training can help prevent compliance violations. For example, if employees are trained on how to handle patient data securely, they are less likely to accidentally expose patient data. By providing employees with comprehensive training, healthcare organizations can help protect their patients, stakeholder standing, and bottom line. 

Organizational culture is another popular theme. When done right, this creates an environment where employees are more likely to comply with the law and corporate policies. A strong compliance culture is one where employees are aware of their responsibilities and feel comfortable reporting compliance violations. 

As SAI360 wrote in Risk & Compliance: “The better your culture, the more natural a fit it is for compliance to be a part of it. If your culture is toxic, it will be harder to stay compliant and encourage ethical behavior.” 

HCCA’s event takeaways come down to one simple message: healthcare compliance is essential for protecting patients, employees, and the organization’s reputation.  

How SAI360 Can Help 

The SAI360 Compliance module is a comprehensive solution that helps organizations manage compliance programs. It provides a single, highly customizable platform for managing all aspects of compliance, including risk assessment, policy development, training, and reporting. 

The SAI360 Compliance module includes the following features: 

• Risk assessment: Helps organizations identify and assess their compliance risks 
• Policy development: Provides a library of pre-built policies that can be customized to meet the specific needs of the organization 
• Training: Offers a variety of training modules to educate employees on compliance topics 
• Reporting: Provides a variety of reports to track compliance progress and identify areas for improvement 

The SAI360 Compliance module is a valuable tool for organizations looking to improve their compliance programs, reduce risks, increase efficiency, and improve visibility. It provides a comprehensive solution that can help organizations manage their risks, develop effective policies, train employees, and track progress. 

For more information on how SAI360’s modular SaaS solutions can drive efficiency, efficacy, and agility in your workplace, visit https://www.sai360.com/industries/healthcare-health-insurance.