Why our Video Production Team is HIPAA Trained

04 Feb Why our Video Production Team is HIPAA Trained

I’m the time of year that I urge, remind and nag my team to update their HIPAA training. I strongly believe that video production teams should be HIPAA trained if they work in the healthcare space. That’s why every member of our team – employee or contractor, videographer or writer, project manager or editor – must get HIPAA trained before working for our company. That training needs to be updated at least every two years. It’s part of our on-boarding process and built into our systems.

We all go through an on-line course that’s designed for business associates of healthcare entities. It’s the same kind of course you’d have your answering service or medical transcriptionists take. It doesn’t take long, it doesn’t cost much, but we believe it’s critical for the job we do and the environments in which we work.

Back in my days as a TV news reporter, Forest Service fire fighters came to our newsroom one spring Saturday to train field crews in basic fire safety. They knew when forest fire season hit, we’d show up on the scene, video cameras in hand. Rather than holding us back, they decided to train us in how to get what we needed, safely. We learned about safety gear, fire behavior and planning escape route in case things get ugly. We were equipped and trained to do our jobs in a way that kept us all safe.

HIPAA training is not that different. No one wants to get burned. Video crews should be aware of where the hot spots might be. It could be a patient name scratched on a room number in a hospital hallway. Or an x-ray with a tiny identifier in the corner. We want anyone involved in the video production process to be aware and equipped to catch something before it ever becomes a problem.

Our goal is to make video projects easy on you. We do that in a lot of ways, but one is by making sure everyone handling your video project is watching out for the privacy of your patients. Of course we want you to hire our team at Healthcare Video Edge as your video partner. But at very least, be sure the video team you work with is HIPAA trained. Ask them. Demand it. You deserve that.