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As the demand for telemedicine increases, many healthcare organizations are evaluating videoconferencing and communications platforms, including Microsoft Teams.
Nearly 70% of adults in the U.S. want telehealth appointments for prescription refills, and approximately 50% prefer virtual visits for minor health problems and mental healthcare. One of the most important factors for hospitals to consider is whether Microsoft Teams is HIPAA compliant.
Microsoft Teams has tools and security features to support HIPAA compliance, and many healthcare organizations use it. That said, meeting HIPAA privacy and security requirements depends heavily on the way hospitals, doctors, and healthcare providers use the platform. No communications platform is HIPAA compliant out of the box or in all situations. The appropriate data security policies must be in place, and staff must follow them carefully.
Healthcare organizations can configure Microsoft Teams to meet HIPAA guidelines — specifically the Security Rule and the Privacy Rule. Teams meetings can integrate with Office 365 Information Protection features for required data retention and archiving.
Not all Microsoft 365 plans have the necessary features, however. Microsoft 365 Business users must invest in advanced security management, threat intelligence, and compliance add-ons. Only 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 accounts offer secure cloud-based calling functionality for telehealth.
Depending on the size of the facility and the type of healthcare services offered, HIPAA compliance with Microsoft Teams can require complex configurations. For smaller practices, the need for a 365 Enterprise account and custom IT services can be cost-prohibitive.
To successfully set up and use Microsoft Teams in a HIPAA-compliant manner, healthcare businesses often need some of the following:
For larger organizations, license limitations can have an impact. Microsoft Teams requires each user to have a license. Providing access to the platform for dozens of doctors and other employees can become costly. Our team generally recommends scheduling an appointment to discuss available options before settling on a single SaaS solution for HIPAA.
With the appropriate Microsoft 365 or Office 365 Enterprise licenses — and organizational best practices — Microsoft Teams can meet HIPAA requirements for telehealth visits. The platform supports virtual appointments, allowing for scheduling, participating in, and managing telehealth sessions.
Teams also offers an EHR connector that integrates with the Oracle Health EHR and Epic EHR systems. This can streamline the scheduling process for patients and provide the necessary records access for HIPAA compliance. Both of these features require a separate subscription to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare or add-on licenses.
Even though Teams works well in healthcare settings, it isn’t designed specifically for telehealth. This explains why physician accounts can’t share files with guest users. This can complicate sharing test results or x-rays with patients on a telehealth visit. To get around this restriction, doctors have to use another HIPAA-compliant platform, such as Microsoft Outlook, with encrypted email settings.
This introduces potential HIPAA risks, such as the potential for misspelling patient email addresses. It also adds to the work healthcare providers must handle manually. An alternative is to have IT professionals add a custom integration that provides secure file-sharing functionality during telehealth visits.
Microsoft has prepared a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement for healthcare organizations. This speeds up the compliance process, but it also means that Microsoft only offers a standard BAA and does not accommodate customized versions.
At this point, healthcare providers may wonder if the cost of setting up and administering Microsoft Teams for HIPAA compliance is worth it. Every organization needs to weigh the pros and cons, but the tools in Teams do offer important benefits:
Microsoft Teams is popular with healthcare organizations because it combines a vast array of tools in a single platform: messaging, scheduling, videoconferencing, data storage, telehealth, EHR integration, and more. This can lower facility overhead by eliminating information and communications bottlenecks and increasing staff productivity.
With any software platform, there’s a need to balance ease of access with cybersecurity. Generally speaking, the more data sharing and connectivity features a healthcare SaaS offers, the greater the risks of human error and data breaches. Telemedicine increases the potential for HIPAA violations even more. For these reasons, it’s wise to take HIPAA compliance seriously when it comes to Microsoft Teams.
Only versions of Microsoft Teams that provide administrator-level system controls comply with the HIPAA Security Rule. It’s the responsibility of healthcare providers, not Microsoft, to manage access logs, track events, and prevent intrusions.
When using Teams for telehealth, HIPAA standards require providers to verify the patient’s identity before discussing protected health information. Following HIPAA best practices for virtual calls also means exercising good judgment when the patient is in public or when family members are present in the room.
Configure Teams to use multifactor authentication and other access control measures. This is critical to prevent unauthorized personnel from viewing protected patient data and violating HIPAA. Automatically log users out of the platform periodically.
Microsoft Teams doesn’t automatically archive session data (e.g., telehealth transcripts, video, or chat communications) by patient records. HIPAA requires making e-PHI available whenever patients request it, so the burden for compliance falls on the healthcare provider. Creating an automated workflow for secure data storage may be a necessary workaround.
Cloud-based communications platforms are powerful tools for healthcare, saving time and improving staff collaboration. Microsoft Teams can be HIPAA compliant, but organizations need the right configuration and product tier. To make the right decision, it’s vital to conduct a system analysis and risk assessment. Discover how Compyl’s powerful tools can ensure your Microsoft Teams setup is HIPAA-compliant and tailored to your healthcare needs.
