Everyone knows that workplace stress is on the rise, as well as the productivity drag it causes. In fact, stress was cited by 42% of workers in a recent survey as their primary source of workplace anxiety. But what can businesses do about it? A natural response to this kind of problem is to adopt some sort of stress management program for employees. However, such programs are time-intensive and often have limited long-term results. A more effective solution is to integrate stress management features into day-to-day operations. Let’s take a look at how you can implement employee wellness programs with an emphasis on reducing stress and increasing productivity through secure messaging apps and software that are entirely compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rules, Security Rules, and Vendor Management Principles for business communications.
What is HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law enacted by Congress in 1996 that sets national standards for the security and privacy of health information. The law is designed to increase the efficiency of the health system while protecting the privacy of patients and the integrity of health information. Even though it was enacted in the 1990s, the rules are still relevant today and are used for securing the digital world. In fact, the rules are so important that non-compliance can result in hefty fines and other sanctions.
Enable real-time communication
“Building trust depends on good communication. Having access to supportive colleagues and supervisors the easiest way to alleviate stress and generate a positive workplace experience is to encourage positive real-time communication. The first step is to ensure that your employees are equipped with the best possible technology. The emphasis here will be on collaboration tools that allow employees to communicate with each other through secure channels. This ensures that no one will have to worry about privacy violations, data breaches, or operational interruptions because everyone will be using HIPAA-compliant communication software. You may also want to consider adopting a messaging app that allows multiple people to have open conversations with one another — the kind of HIPAA Complaint Messaging can help reduce the amount of stress and anxiety felt by your employees.
Help employees know who to contact and when;
it’s also important to note that an over-reliance on email communication can create its own set of stress-inducing problems. To help prevent these problems from occurring, you’ll want to consider adopting a digital system that enables employees to easily identify who is involved in different work topics and to easily contact each other in a HIPAA-compliant way. This will ensure that everyone will know who to contact and when. This system may also help to reduce the amount of stress associated with having to decide when to send an email and when not to.
Use video conferencing to see the other person
While audio communication is a great way to reduce distractions, it will also prevent you from being able to see the other person. That’s why you’ll want to consider implementing a video conferencing feature into the communication system you use. This feature can help reduce stress on a number of different levels. For starters, it will allow employees to see the person they’re talking to and automatically process facial expressions and body language. It’s also an incredibly effective tool for building rapport, given that it allows two people to establish a more personal connection with each other.
Conclusion
HIPAA compliance is an important factor in securing your business communications, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. It’s also important to consider how your employees actually work, how stressful the work environment is, and how you can improve productivity for everyone. HIPAA compliant messaging can reduce stress and improve productivity by allowing employees to communicate with each other in real-time, in a secure way. It can also allow them to see each other, which helps build rapport and reduce distractions. These features can improve productivity in a number of different ways, including by reducing the amount of time it takes employees to communicate with one another and by reducing the amount of stress that typically comes with office work.
