Teaching prospects about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) could help managed service providers (MSPs) boost their revenues, according to RapidFire Tools.

The company behind the Network Detective application and reporting tool this week released a survey that revealed many MSPs are using HIPAA compliance assessments to increase business and better engage prospects.

MSPmentor is not surprised at these results. At managed services industry conferences we’ve attended this year, all the HIPAA sessions were packed, and late comers were turned away. Here’s more on the RapidFire Tools survey.

RapidFire Tools asked MSPs to identify specific instances in which use of its HIPAA Compliance Module resulted in a new project or an extended service contract, or whether the module allowed the MSP to justify its own services to prospects.

The IT assessment software provider said the majority of MSPs reported “an increased ability to illustrate their skills, identifying network vulnerabilities and positioning their own practices as superior to the customers’ existing IT partners.”

“Assessment is even more critical in the healthcare marketplace, where a facility is vulnerable to business-jeopardizing fees – potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars – if they have not conducted a mandated risk assessment to document their compliance,” RapidFire Tools CEO Mike Mittel said in a prepared statement. “[A HIPAA compliance tool is] something MSPs can utilize right now to grow their businesses.”

In addition, MSPs can become HIPAA-compliant, which can help them differentiate their offerings in a rapidly growing healthcare marketplace.

HIPAA expert David Sims recently pointed out that there will be a “giant flux for MSPs to capitalize on the healthcare IT niche” between now and 2020. And as this sector expands, Sims noted that it is “financially smart” for MSPs to be HIPAA-compliant.

What are your thoughts on the RapidFire Tools survey? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].