Morgan Bender
Husband-and-wife Eric and Lindsey Crabtree combined their two businesses to form Structured Inc. The firm offers secure, cloud-connected digital infrastructure for businesses, with expertise in HIPAA compliance for healthcare- related clients.
Lindsey and Eric Crabtree have backgrounds in the health insurance industry, hers in project management and operations and his in technology. The couple worked together on projects through their individual businesses until July 2019, when they merged Right Hand Operations and Bluegrass Computers & Technology to form Structured Inc.
“We saw a need in the community for IT and operations support,” Lindsey said. “We know that without a stable technology infrastructure and stable process infrastructure, when it comes time to change and grow and adapt, a company can be at a real disadvantage.”
The Crabtrees decided early in their entrepreneurial lives that every time they added a customer, they would take a portion of the new revenue and pick a cause to help out. Sometimes it’s a monetary donation, and other times the project is specific and tangible. “One year we got to help outfit a family’s house, around Christmastime, with a washer and dryer, and everybody got a new bed,” she said. “It was heartwarming for us.”
They also have donated a laptop to a student that was chosen by an organization that works with children in the foster care system. “If you can help one person, help one person,” she said. “We know we’re small and we can’t make a big difference in the community as a whole, but we can make a big difference in one person’s life or two people’s lives.”
“If you can help one person, help one person. We know we’re small ... but we can make a big difference in one person’s life or two people’s lives.” —Lindsey Crabtree
Lindsey Crabtree is founder and COO of Structured Inc. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky, an MBA from Eastern Kentucky University and professional certifications in project management, health care compliance and human resources. Eric Crabtree is founder and CTO. He has two degrees in computer science from Sullivan University.
Structured Inc. has a team of eight people to provide project management, process documentation, IT managed services, software integration and other operations and technology solutions for businesses of any size. A recent focus for the company has been helping local businesses be fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
“There are two types of businesses that need to be HIPAA compliant,” Eric said. One is covered entities, including hospitals, doctors, dentists, nursing homes and any other facility that maintains protected health information (PHI) and they electronically bill. The other category is any business hired by a covered entity that then signs a business associate agreement.
“Anybody who signs a BAA with another company is required to be at the same level of compliance as the company they signed the BAA for,” he said. Transporting lab samples or warehousing data, for example. Signing the BAA and keeping protected health information safe isn’t the whole story for HIPAA compliance, though.
“You have to have written policies and procedures; you have to have agreements in place; you have to do the training; you have to do a risk assessment every year,” Lindsey said. If a breach should occur, like accidentally posting something online that would contain some personal health information, a business knows to take it down and report it, per HIPAA regulations.
“From there the Office for Civil Rights will investigate, and they will dig to every level. That’s where the fines are compounded,” she said, adding that this audit would have been an easier process if the business had been fully HIPAA-compliant. “If they take the time to put those things in place, they would be protected.”
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the Ben Franklin aphorism goes. In their own business, the Crabtrees are making sure Structured Inc. is flexible.
“When COVID hit in March, our lease was getting ready to be up,” Lindsey said. They let it run out and all team members went remote. ”I never thought I would like to work from home, but now that we’re doing it, I absolutely love it.”
Eric prefers an office environment but has gotten used to touching base via daily Zoom meetings. “We can always get another office,” he said. “With 2021, who knows what’s going to happen yet? We’ll be flexible and roll with it.”