The Role of Data Privacy in Home Care Software

With the increasing integration of care management software into the UK Home Care sector, it’s essential that your care clients sensitive personal information and medical records are kept safe and protected at all times.

Data privacy may not be the most stimulating topic of conversation but it’s an important one for your homecare business. Your clients have a legal right to decide when, how, and to what extent personal information about them is shared with or communicated to others.

What if private patient data got into the wrong hands? Your care clients could be open to fraud or identity theft resulting in loss of trust and confidence between your patients and their caregivers. Any betrayal of this confidence may have a lasting negative impact on your home care agency.

In this blog, we’ll look at the role of data privacy in home care software and discuss some of the challenges and solutions available to the UK home care sector.

• UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

  The UK GDPR legislation which came into effect on 25 May 2018 complements the Data Protection Act 2018 and sets out how personal data should be collected, processed, stored and transferred. Fines and penalties are handed out to organisations who do not comply with these requirements. For example, a care home in County Antrim was fined £15k by the ICO for failing to protect sensitive data about its staff and residents.
  Your carers handle sensitive patient information on a daily basis and GDPR regulations are in place to protect this data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights and provides guidance and resources on how to meet UK data protection requirements.

• Cybersecurity & data breaches

  Cyber attacks are a huge threat for homecare software and as technology advances, hackers will start to use more sophisticated techniques to try and get hold of valuable patient information. The home care management system you use needs to have robust security features in place, such as routine software upgrades, secure network connections, and real-time threat monitoring to prevent cyber attacks and data breaches. Data breaches could have serious repercussions on your home care business, including financial loss and harm to your reputation.

• CQC compliance

  The Care Quality Commission (CQC) support the use of digital records in adult social care and believe good digital records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care. They set out minimum requirements of the records their registered providers must keep, referring to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2014. All providers must have effective governance, including assurance and auditing systems or processes and all records must be accurate, complete and up to date.

Best Practices for Data Privacy

The CQC have provided a useful list on their website of where to find best practice and guidance on data management and privacy including:

• Data Protection legislation (including UK GDPR) requirements
• the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (an annual self-assessment for health and care organisations)
• National Cyber Security Centre and
• Information Commissioner’s Office

• Industry standard homecare software

  The home care management software you use should meet industry standards for data handling and data management. Certifications such as Information Security Management Systems (ISO/IEC 27001) and Cyber Essentials (a self-assessment scheme which shows you how to prevent the most common cyber attacks) demonstrate that your homecare software provider follows best practices and principles when it comes to securely handling data.

• Data Encryption

  When you use a homecare software system, the data you handle can be encrypted (transformed into a secret code) to essentially hide it from unauthorised access. Sensitive personal information is therefore disguised and unreadable.

• Logins & Access Controls

  A digital software system can allow limited access to specific carers, family and friends of the patient, and is therefore more secure than keeping paper records which could get mislaid or lost. As a Care Manager, you are responsible for controlling the data that your care team handle and need to make sure it’s kept safe, secure and only accessed by authorised carers or specified family and friends.

• Software Updates & Audit Trails

  Keeping the homecare software regularly updated with the latest security features will help prevent and minimise the likelihood of cyber attacks. A good digital home care management system will provide a transparent and clear audit trail automatically recording every action taken by your care team, and monitoring who is logging into the system and when.

• Staff Training

  It’s vitally important that your carers are aware of the importance of keeping their clients personal information safe and secure. As a data controller, you will need to make sure your care team have been sufficiently trained on how to handle and manage their client’s sensitive data. You will need to set an example of best practice and provide regular ongoing training as and when regulations change, emphasising the serious consequences of data breaches.

• Privacy Policies

  Your home care agency will need to have an effective data privacy policy in place and each member of your care team will need to familiarise themselves with the policy principles and stick strictly to them. Your job as Care Manager will mean routinely monitoring the privacy policy to ensure it’s being followed by your carers across the board.

We would encourage you to make data privacy a priority for your home care agency and seek professional guidance if you’re unsure whether your systems and processes are compliant. Ensuring your care clients’ private and sensitive information is protected will play a critical role in the credibility and success of your homecare business.

As a leading provider of ISO, GDPR and CQC compliant home care software since 2000, Tagtronics Care have supported hundreds of home care agencies to keep patient information safe and protected at all times.

For more information, read our Data Privacy Policy or email us at howcanwehelp@tagtronics.co.uk.