Interview: Natalie Birindelli, Healthcare Engagement Advisor, Amazon Web Services
Natalie Birindelli, Healthcare Engagement Advisor at Amazon Web Services has shared her thoughts on HIPAA and how the legislation relates to her role and her career.
Tell the readers about your career in the healthcare industry
Experienced Healthcare Cybersecurity/Information Technology Leader with over 20 years in the hospital & healthcare industry. Skilled in Telehealth, Cybersecurity, Cloud Infrastructure, Communications, Education and Awareness, Program and Healthcare Management, Privacy with an innovative approach to implementing complex technical solutions.
What was your first position?
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Medical Assistant/Billing Specialist at Elite OB-Gyn/Genetics Consultants of VA and MDElite OB-Gyn/Genetics Consultants of VA and MD for 6 years. Then worked at McLean, VAMcLean, VA, where I assisted a team of physicians with all aspects of patient care for multi-facilities including processing and submitting referrals, insurance claims and consultation letters, reconciling medical billing and follow through with insurance carriers, and I implemented the 1st EHR, Medisoft software, and trained all clinicians and staff.
What is your current position?
Healthcare Engagement Advisor. I provide cloud compliance advisory services for the healthcare industry through their cloud journey.
What are the main challenges in your position?
Mitigating concerns about cloud compliance in healthcare; the siloed landscape of health systems leads to redundancy and challenges in regard to ensuring compliance across outdated systems which were never developed to scale to today’s ever-evolving threat landscape.
Tell the readers about any significant event in your career.
I implemented a multi-million-dollar comprehensive cyber program which was the largest change transformation for a large international health system. Building trust, transparency and soliciting input from our clinicians was critical to its success. When the pandemic hit, the need for a technical resource with clinical background to implement acute care Telehealth was required and I stepped up to the challenge. The program was such a success, it became the gold standard across the health system, and I was presented with an award of excellence.
What products/services do you provide for the healthcare industry and what is unique about them?
I provide cloud compliance advisory services. Being on the operations side for over 20 years, understanding the nuances of the industry is invaluable to our customers as they face ongoing financial, organizational and threat intelligence challenges.
When did you first get involved with HIPAA compliance?
Straight out of high school, working for a physician practice, I was a medical assistant but also implemented and training providers on the EHR.
What are your main challenges regarding HIPAA?
Ensuring the unintentional disclosures are addressed, and remediated and controls are in place to mitigate.
What do you think needs to be improved in the HIPAA regulations?
Removing barriers to the more vulnerable populations that may not have the education or access to resources to help drive better outcomes.
Do you have any predictions for the future of HIPAA?
Increased alignment with GDPR regulations and more control to patients over access and sovereignty of that data.
Do you have any predictions for the future of healthcare regulation?
If anything, COVID has shown the healthcare industry it can pivot at an unprecedented rate. Innovation and technical barriers to social determinants of health will be addressed leading to more patient engagement and transparency for healthcare providers.
Do you have any predictions for the future of healthcare technology?
The use of AI/ML will mature over time and reduce unconscious bias as we look at improving outcomes and value-based care.
Do you have any predictions for the future of the healthcare industry?
Innovation, the use of smart technology to alleviate the administrative burden on extended IT staffs, and utilizing cloud technologies to improve compliance/risk posture will lead to better outcomes for patients, caregivers, and support staff.
