Content Syndication in Healthcare: Risk-Free Compliance Tips

You, as a marketing expert, already know this: In the healthcare domain, medical and patent data is sensitive. In fact, last year, 19 million records were exposed in healthcare data breaches. Of all the breaches, 15% were attributed to unauthorized access and disclosure. 

This is concerning. So, how do you overcome such compliance-related violations? How to ensure your content marketing – especially content syndication efforts – doesn’t fall prey to data infringement?

Now, you may ask – why are we focusing on content syndication here? Well, healthcare syndicated content may breach compliance due to several reasons.

Some include varied sources, difficulty in updates, limited customization, and inadvertent oversights. And all of this can risk legal and reputational issues in your healthcare marketing efforts. 

Plus, the life sciences industry is marked by ever-evolving rules and regulations. Hence, adhering to these standards is prudent and imperative. 

Therefore, let's take a more nuanced look into healthcare content syndication. From the compliance perspective, let’s discuss how a keen focus on industry regulations can give your healthcare marketing strategy a notable uplift.

5 Regulatory Bodies and Compliance Rules in Healthcare

While syndicating healthcare content, you’ll encounter several regulatory bodies and compliance rules that significantly impact your operations. These include:

1. FDA (Food and Drug Administration)

If your syndicated content touches on medical products, drugs, or health-related items, you must align with FDA regulations. It ensures the safety and efficacy of your content.

2. CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

If your syndicated content relates to Medicare or Medicaid services, adherence to CMS guidelines is essential. It ensures your content complies with their standards, enabling smooth operations and reimbursement processes.

3. State-specific Health Departments

Different states often have their specific health department regulations. Respecting and following these state-level standards is vital for a healthcare content syndicator. It holds especially true when sharing content within a particular state's jurisdiction.

4. Copyright Laws

Copyright laws protect you from intellectual property issues. Being mindful of copyright helps prevent potential legal complications related to using intellectual property in your syndicated content.

Plus, copyright laws enable you to maintain honesty and transparency in content distribution. They help you avoid plagiarism and content theft. It ensures your work adheres to legal standards.

5. HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA Compliance ensures your healthcare-syndicated content strictly adheres to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It means:

• Taking extra precautions to protect the privacy and security of sensitive health data in the content
• Ensuring it's not mishandled
• Maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality when distributing healthcare-related materials 

– to prevent any breaches of patient trust and legal requirements.

12 Successful Compliance-Driven Healthcare Content Syndication Strategies

Here’s a rundown of some tried and tested strategies to ensure you syndicate only compliance-driven healthcare content. If you share medical studies, research, and patient experiment reports using your product/service, then these compliance strategies are a must to avoid content syndication mistakes.

1. Data Encryption

When engaging in healthcare content syndication, you must prioritize data encryption. This means safeguarding sensitive patient information by encoding it to prevent unauthorized access. 

Encrypting data ensures that it remains secure and compliant with privacy regulations even if it's intercepted. Hence, it instills trust in your syndication strategies.

2. Anonymization and De-identification

An essential aspect of syndicating healthcare content is anonymization and de-identification. You are responsible for removing or concealing any personally identifiable information from the content before syndication. 

This step ensures patient data remains anonymous and compliant with privacy laws. Thus, it reduces the risk of data breaches and maintains regulatory adherence in your syndication efforts.

3. Data Minimization

This strategy involves only collecting and sharing the minimum necessary patient information. By doing so, you reduce the risk of handling excess sensitive data. 

Hence, it’s easier to maintain conformity with privacy regulations and protect patient confidentiality throughout the syndication process.

4. Data Security and Access Control

In cases where you or your vendor syndicates content on third-party authority platforms, ensure only authorized personnel can access and share your resources. Implement robust security measures and carefully manage who can view and use the data.

It enhances abidance with healthcare regulations and reduces the chances of unauthorized data breaches – safeguarding patient information in your syndication endeavors.

5. Regular Auditing

To uphold compliance in healthcare content syndication, conduct regular audits. As a B2B marketer, you should continuously assess your processes and data handling practices. 

This ongoing scrutiny allows you to identify and rectify any conformance deviations promptly. Thus, you can ensure your syndication operations consistently align with regulatory standards.

6. Incident Response Plan

Part of a robust healthcare content syndication strategy involves having a well-defined incident response plan. It outlines the actions to take in case of a data breach or security incident. 

You must develop and implement this plan to ensure you can swiftly and effectively address any compliance-related incidents. Therefore, you can minimize the impact on patient data and reputational damage while agreeing with legal obligations.

7. Compliance Training

Offer education and guidance to your team on:

• Healthcare regulations
• Data protection
• Syndication best practices

Thereby, ensure your personnel are well-versed in compliance requirements. As such, you ensure all team members are aligned with regulatory expectations.

8. Legal Counsel

Healthcare content syndication often crosses state and international borders, each with its unique regulations. Having legal counsel with expertise in healthcare compliance is invaluable. 

Their guidance can help you navigate the intricacies of state-specific and global healthcare regulations. It ensures your syndication strategies are in harmony with the diverse legal landscapes.

9. Business Associate Agreements (BAAs)

Establish BAAs with third-party providers. When handling patient data in syndicated content, these agreements formalize your partners' responsibilities and compliance commitments. 

By having well-structured BAAs in place, you create a legally binding framework. It guarantees your providers maintain the same high data protection and regulatory compliance standards.

10. Patient Consent for Content Sharing 

Make sure patients explicitly agree to use their data and information in syndicated content. It upholds ethical standards and ensures compliance with patient privacy, respect for their rights, and consent regulations. 

11. Zero Misinformation and Inaccuracies

Maintain a commitment to providing content that is free from wrong information and errors. It means ensuring the information you share complies with regulatory standards and is factually correct and reliable. 

This practice instills confidence in patients and readers, promoting informed decision-making and upholding the integrity of your syndicated content.

12. Public Trust Issues Reddressal

You must have a system in place to address any issues that might erode that trust. It includes the following:

• Being responsive to feedback
• Promptly rectifying inaccuracies or concerns
• Demonstrating a commitment to transparency and accountability

Effective redressal of public trust issues strengthens your credibility and reinforces your adherence to ethical and regulatory standards.

Ensure Compliance With Revnew as Your Healthcare Content Syndication Partner 

In healthcare content syndication, you cannot override the importance of compliance. After all, your reputation, legal standing, and customer trust hinge on your ability to adhere to the intricate web of regulations outlined above.

So, as you navigate this complex landscape, you can consider partnering with a reliable and experienced content syndication vendor like Revnew. We bring to the table a deep understanding of compliance-driven strategies.

By forging a partnership with Revnew, you can access the proper knowledge and expertise to ensure your syndication practices are compliant and ethically sound. Do you want to know more? Don’t hesitate to schedule a call with us anytime!