What a HIPAA Certification Means in IT

If your business manages any aspect of healthcare as part of its model, you no doubt have come across the numerous regulations required which goes along with it. One of these regulations is HIPAA – the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This is the standard all companies must follow when protecting consumer data regarding health information, transactions, and records. Not following it incurs various penalties – and in some cases – revoking a practice’s ability to operate until standards are followed.

What does this mean for your IT department? Essentially, staff, network, and services must all abide by procedures to ensure HIPAA compliance. This keeps private medical data safe, along with any additional client info.

Of course, easier said than done. Creating an effective HIPAA policy goes beyond the following regulations. While it’s easy for top staff to understand the importance, regular IT may need additional guidelines for daily operations. We’ll give you some ideas to make sure your business and employees are within the bounds of HIPAA.

It’s first important to establish whether or not your IT staff are following the necessary regulations. These include several aspects of IT and/or network infrastructure.

Staff and Technical Policies

This means only qualified personnel can access certain tiers of data (similar to an access policy). Enforcing this protocol may require the use of unique logins, IDS, and a diversified network.

Physical Policies

These allow only certain staff access to certain parts of a business. As healthcare typically involves physical documentation, making sure only correct professionals access the appropriate material is also important. Keeping these areas safe – much like their digital counterpart – usually involves access keys to various parts of a practice.

Recovery and Integrity Check Policies

These are necessary to monitor sensitive data, covering security software and guidelines. It also covers BDR procedures – as in, what steps does the practice take in case of a breach and/or lost information.

Good Policies

This monitors where healthcare information goes and is received from, covering everything from personnel logins to who accesses what material. It also covers the policies regarding cloud networks, internet, and messaging services.

In order to assure your company follows HIPAA policy, IT must be aware of the above procedures. Implementing it is a matter of creating strict security guidelines, diversifying network infrastructure, and installing proper BDR plans in case of intrusion or lost info.

Regulations such as these are fairly common, but healthcare vendors must be wary in particular. There are numerous vulnerable files associated with patient treatment, most of which contain highly sensitive, personal data. To avoid federal penalties and other problems like downtime, install a HIPAA compliant policy. If your company is uncertain whether or not it is following HIPAA, you can utilize third-party resources to run penetration chests and target areas the policies are ineffective.