Nearly all white-collar crime today involves identity theft in some way. Criminals obtain personal information and then use it illegally. The person who commits identity theft is criminally responsible for his or her actions. However, if the information was obtained through a firm’s record, the business may be held liable in a court of law. Medical businesses, especially, are vulnerable, because they have personal information for every patient on file. Here is how medical practices and hospitals can reduce their vulnerability by using HIPAA-certified commercial shredding.

Follow HIPAA Laws and Regulations Many medical professionals are aggravated by the HIPAA regulations they must follow. Physicians of small practices cannot spend their days auditing their practices’ document storage and shredding. Hospitals have entire departments, which drain budgets, devoted to document management. Following every HIPAA regulation requires a great effort and continued diligence.

All these headaches can be eased by hiring a company that is HIPAA certified. Medical practices do not need to have an employee watch each sheet of paper as it is shredded. They simply need to turn their documents over to a company that follows HIPAA regulations. By using a company that specializes in commercial shredding, medical professionals can stop worrying and return to what they do best – seeing patients.

Reduce Documents on Site

Because the HIPAA laws are so intimidating and involved, some medical practices keep every document on file. This is unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Keeping unnecessary documents that contain personal information only increases the opportunities thieves have. Contrary to some people’s impression, laws clearly state what types of documents must be stored, as well as how long they must be stored for. After this length of time, these documents should be destroyed.

A commercial document management firm can help medical businesses determine what papers can be kept and which papers should be shredded. If needed, the firm can also help in the setup of a secure document storage system, transport documents securely and destroy them according to HIPAA protocols. It is more efficient, not to mention financially advantageous, to hire a document shredding company for these needs.