The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a regulation established to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. It’s a United States standard and compliance is required for all healthcare providers, insurance companies, and business associates with access to patient data.
To comply with HIPAA, organizations must:
- Implement Administrative Safeguards. This involves conducting risk assessments and establishing a risk management policy, as well as designating a privacy officer.
- Apply Physical Safeguards. These include facility access controls, workstation use and security, and device and media controls.
- Use Technical Safeguards. This includes access control to data, audit controls to record and examine activity, integrity controls to ensure data isn’t improperly altered or destroyed, and transmission security to protect data in transit.
- Maintain an organized set of privacy procedures and documents. This policy must be maintained, shared with all staff members, and updated regularly.
- Provide training to all employees about the HIPAA Privacy Rule and how it applies to the organization’s practices.