WHAT IS IT?
What does HIPAA stand for?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is a federal statute enforced by the United States legislature. It sets standards for securing patient sensitive data from being disclosed without their consent.
Each covered entity that stores, processes, or transmits Protected Health Information (PHI) must be HIPAA-compliant.
PHI can take many forms, and its digital counterpart is electronically Protected Health Information (ePHI). Since most healthcare organizations now store patient data online, ePHI has become the primary method for archiving patient data.
Failure to follow HIPAA regulations can deal a devastating financial blow to your business and damage your reputation and patients’ trust.
Who needs to be HIPAA compliant?
Healthcare providers
Doctors, clinics, psychologists, dentists, pharmacies, health insurance companies, and any other entities that create and share PHI, perform treatment, and also other procedures such as accepting payments for health services.
Partners of healthcare providers
Enterprises that provide services to the healthcare industry, such as consultants, accounting firms, IT suppliers, lawyers, and other organizations that create, receive, maintain, or share PHI on behalf of covered entities.
Subcontractors
Organizations that also handle PHI are hired by healthcare providers’ partners to help with specific tasks, such as, for example, cloud hosting providers or shredding companies.
COMPLIANCE STANDARDS
HIPAA Requirements
HIPAA requirements for covered entities include and are limited to:
- The security concepts of access controls (centrally-controlled unique credentials for each user and procedures to govern the release or disclosure of ePHI)
- Integrity controls (policies and procedures to ensure that ePHI is not improperly altered or destroyed)
- Audit controls (hardware, software, and/or procedural mechanisms to record and examine access and other ePHI-adjacent activity)
- Network security (encryption, firewalling, etc.).
HIPAA Privacy Rule
HIPAA Privacy Rule outlines a patient’s rights about their health information and regulates who can access it. The rule is not exclusive to digital data. Parts of this rule also list the required paperwork and consent forms to be filled out by those handling PHI.
HIPAA Security Rule
HIPAA Security Rule establishes standards for safeguarding information when it’s shared or stored electronically. This rule is about the technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to make it inaccessible to unauthorized individuals.
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule
As the name implies, the Breach Notification Rule details the course of action in case of a data breach. This rule assumes that no system is hackproof and that it’s better to have a detailed plan in case of an emergency. It defines how to notify the affected patients and what steps to take to limit the damage.
YOUR ROADMAP TO COMPLIANCE
HIPAA-compliant network security solution
Independent assessors reviewed NordLayer’s policies, standards, and procedures and concluded they meet the security objectives outlined in the HIPAA Security Rules. It means NordLayer is HIPAA-compliant and has the appropriate measures for securing access to Protected Health Information.
HOW WE HELP
How NordLayer can contribute to your HIPAA compliance
NordLayer provides remote access to your company's internal resources. Our solution protects all endpoints with sensitive information with an extra security layer of access to your network, cloud tools, or databases.Â
Modern healthcare organizations need modern security solutions that adapt to the complexities of today’s hybrid working environments and HIPAA rules. Wherever their location, users, devices, apps, and data must have the same advanced level of network access protection. That’s where NordLayer comes in.
Whenever protected health information or other sensitive data is being sent between networks, it may be vulnerable to many attacks. NordLayer encrypts this data with AES 256-bit encryption, the most optimal solution for protecting sensitive data and minimizing cyber risks.
When using any communication service provider (CSP) such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Entra ID, Google Cloud Platform, or others, compliance becomes a shared responsibility between the CSP and the customer. You are responsible for configuring and using cloud services in a way that complies with HIPAA privacy requirements.
As a fundamental security measure used in many devices, MFA is a powerful defense against the theft of PHI. NordLayer offers MFA for accessing gateways that connect you to valuable resources. By following best practices in Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), you can strengthen your resource access with the added layer of MFA protection.
Monitoring and verifying user access to your resources allows businesses to understand who is inside the enterprise network. This is one of the HIPAA requirements.
OUR INSIGHTS
HIPAA Resources
ARE YOU COMPLIANT?
NordLayer and regulatory compliance
Achieve regulatory compliance with NordLayer
This content has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. We hope you will find the information informative and helpful; however, you should use the information provided in this article at your own risk and consider seeking advice from a professional counsel licensed in your state or country. The materials presented on this site may not reflect the most current legal developments or the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside. This article may be changed, improved, or updated without notice.
Additional info
Frequently Asked Questions
HIPAA helps protect the personal private data of patients. Without it, this sensitive data would be accessible to malicious entities.
HIPAA-compliant entities must check potential risks targeting PHI confidentiality. The key areas are administrative practices, physical security, IT systems security, and crisis recovery plan. After identifying the risks, they must put in place an action plan to eliminate them and enable certain administrative safeguards.
HIPAA establishes four rules for safeguarding the privacy and security of a patient’s medical information. Each provides a framework for a specific field detailing how to proceed to HIPAA compliance.
- HIPAA Privacy Rule
- HIPAA Security Rule
- HIPAA Breach Notification Rule