HIPAA and HITECH Compliance

What is HIPAA Compliance?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets the standard for sensitive patient data protection. Companies that deal with protected health information (PHI) must have physical, network, and process security measures in place and follow them to ensure HIPAA compliance. Through HIPAA Privacy and HIPAA Security rules, health care organizations must implement HIPAA compliance into their business in order to protect the privacy, security, and integrity of health information and avoid the civil and criminal penalties that result from failing to follow HIPAA compliance rules.

Patients entrust their data to healthcare organizations, and it is the duty of these organizations to take care of patients’ protected health information. The rise in healthcare technology and the accelerated demand for the use, storage and transmission of electronic patient data makes the need for data security and HIPAA compliance more crucial than ever. It also calls for a bridge between HIPAA and HITECH compliance, which we will talk about further down.

Who must Meet HIPAA Compliance?

Covered entities (anyone providing treatment, payment, and operations in healthcare)
Business associates (anyone who has access to patient information and provides support in treatment, payment or operations)
Other entities (such as subcontractors and any other related business associates)

The Role of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH)

For entities that create, use, or share electronic health information, HITECH addresses privacy and security concerns through language that goes further in strengthening enforcement of HIPAA. HIPAA and HITECH compliance go hand in hand.

It is important to comply with HITECH in addition to HIPAA, as it concerns the use of electronic health records (EHR) in the healthcare industry, such as e-prescriptions or any electronic exchange of healthcare information for the purpose of improving the quality and quantity of that care.

Again, because of the rise in healthcare technology and the increased demand for the use, storage, and transmission of electronic patient data, data security compliance is more crucial than ever.

Be in Healthy Standing with HIPAA Compliance

The healthcare industry has consistently proved itself to be a lucrative target for attackers. With security threats constantly evolving, it is critical for healthcare providers to understand their security posture and begin implementing reliable security controls to protect their patients and be in HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA requires that all healthcare organizations have administrative, technical and physical safeguards in place to protect the privacy of patient information, while maintaining data integrity for employees, customers and shareholders.

DirectDefense is able to provide services that strengthen your security program and give you the necessary support to meet HIPAA and HITECH compliance.