March 21, 2024 Let’s go! Day number four of Feature Week. We hope you’ve stayed tuned as we go over all the wonderful features that make Abyde the leading compliance software for Business Associates (BAs). We know that running your business can be tough, so we simplify compliance, so you can focus on being successful in your business. So far, this week we’ve gone over our intuitive Security Risk Analysis (SRA), our unique Scorecard, telling you what you need to do to be compliant based on your answers, and yesterday, our dynamically generated custom Policies and Procedures, saving your business countless hours in drafting documentation. How does this software get even better? Well, it does! Today, we’ll go over our state-of-the-art BA and CE (Covered Entity) Portal, where you can manage your Business Associate Agreements (BAAs). As we say here at Abyde, who does it better than us? NOBODY! BAA-lieve It or Not: The Importance of Business Associate Agreements A Business Associate Agreement, or a BAA, is an agreement between a BA and CE, or a Sub-BA, that outlines the roles and responsibilities of both parties when it comes to securing Protected Health Information (PHI). In simpler terms: a contract that spells out what each party needs to do when it comes to HIPAA compliance. One of the top HIPAA violations BAs make is not having a Business Associate Agreement in place. This agreement is required by the government, making sure both parties are aware of the responsibilities that come along with handling sensitive patient information. BAs must have agreements in place with all CEs and Sub-BAs they work with. Managing these agreements could be complicated without Abyde, being unaware of what needs to go into an agreement, getting it over to be signed and knowing when these agreements expire. But with Abyde, you don’t need to worry about this, simplifying the compliance process even more. Like how we dynamically generate custom Policies and Procedures, we create BAAs for you. All we need you to do is digitally sign. The BAA will be sent over by email through the software and will be stored in our nifty BA | CE Portal. Have an agreement expiring soon? We’ll notify you, giving you plenty of time to update your documentation so you can stay compliant. All BAAs are easily downloadable from the software and can be reviewed at all times. Have a partner who hasn’t signed yet? We’ll send reminders for them, too. With our revolutionary features, we think it’s clear: we want to make compliance the easiest part of running your business. To learn more about how you can manage your Business Associate Agreements with the Abyde software, email info@abyde.com and see it in action here.
Abyde Feature Week: Scorecard
March 19, 2024 Welcome to Feature Week! Whether you stayed tuned from last week, or are a first-time reader, we are celebrating the features that Abyde offers to make it easy for your practice to stay compliant. Yesterday, we highlighted Abyde’s state-of-the-art Security Risk Analysis (SRA), turning a complicated evaluation of your business’s compliance practices into a simple questionnaire that can be completed in minutes. Once your SRA is done, the Scorecard comes into play. Get comfortable and stay tuned on how this feature can make HIPAA a breeze for your business. Keeping Score Whew!, That SRA wasn’t so bad, right? So, what’s next? This isn’t a scorecard like in golf but is a hole-in-one when it comes to monitoring your compliance practices. The Scorecard is a review of your answers to the SRA and gives your business a thorough explanation of how your current practices hold up against regulations, and what your organization can do to improve. The SRA is like a coach’s playbook, outlining the game plan for HIPAA compliance. The Scorecard is this plan in action, like reviewing your game tape, seeing what you need to improve and what vulnerabilities you have as a business. This scorecard is easy to review and gives your business the risk levels of your current practices. Each question is unique, and some practices are more critical than others. For instance, only changing your password every six months is not ideal, but not as risky as not encrypting your files. Unfortunately, some practices will never be ‘low risk’, even if they are not wrong just because there’s always the chance of human and technological errors. For instance, numerous employees working remotely while handling Protected Health Information (PHI) is always going to be riskier than all PHI staying in one location. Impacted by a breach? You can easily show proof of a Security Risk Analysis by downloading the Scorecard in the software, showing the government that you take HIPAA seriously. You can also see every version of your Scorecard in the software, seeing how your path to compliance has gotten easier with the help of Abyde. Ready to keep your HIPAA compliance score? Reach out to info@abyde.com and schedule a demo here for your business.