RSI Security

What You Should Know About the HIPAA Security Rule

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The US healthcare industry is one of the most attractive targets for cybercrime worldwide. Any attack, like the recent ransomware strike on Universal Health Services, can freeze hundreds of providers and impact millions of patients. Complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the first step you can take to avoid potentially crippling attacks, and understanding the HIPAA security rule is a key part of achieving compliance.

In addition to the ever-present threat of attack, companies who fail to meet compliance standards can face financial penalties and even jail time. Implementing the security rule is essential to avoiding legal trouble and safeguarding your clients’ sensitive information.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

 

What You Should Know About the HIPAA Security Rule

Nearly all companies within and adjacent to the medical industry need to be compliant with HIPAA. In practice, that means following its four rules. And the second rule, concerning security, can be one of the hardest to follow. It requires implementing controls on multiple levels and activating every single person in your company to help protect sensitive information.

Understanding all it entails can be a challenge. But don’t worry; This guide will break down everything you need to know about the HIPAA security rule, providing:

By the end of this guide, you’ll know the security rule inside and out. But first, let’s get into some basic context of what HIPAA is and why it matters for your business.

 

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What is HIPAA, and Why Does it Matter?

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers HIPAA in order to ensure that healthcare providers across the country have uniform standards for the safety and security of their clients’ information. Specifically, HIPAA designates certain personal information, such as clients’ biographical, medical, and payment records, as protected health information (PHI).

In practice, HIPAA’s main function requires all covered entities to safeguard PHI.

Entities to whom this applies include all direct healthcare providers, such as doctors and hospitals. But it also includes institutions that administer and process healthcare plans, as well as clearinghouses, such as billing and information management platforms used by medical companies. Business associates of the aforementioned entities also need to be vetted.

HIPAA matters because the integrity of PHI matters — for clients and for your business. Cybercriminals who seize PHI can wreak havoc on both patients and healthcare institutions.

Hence the importance of security.

 

HIPAA Security Rule Summary

While HIPAA exists in order to regulate security of all PHI, the security rule protects the following forms of electronic PHI (ePHI) in particular:

The rule was proposed in 1998, but reached its first official form in 2003. Compliance was required as of 2005 for most covered entities. Its most recent updates are documented in 2013’s omnibus final rule, which modernized all of HIPAA to contemporary standards.

The stated purpose of the security rule is ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and security of ePHI with required standards across four categories:

HIPAA recognizes the diversity of covered entities; the particular ways companies implement these safeguards can vary depending on their size, complexity, and risk profile.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a security rule toolkit to help companies adapt solutions to their specific needs. And Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has partnered with HHS to publish guides explaining each safeguard.


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Administrative Safeguards

The first and largest set of requirements in the security rule are its administrative safeguards.

These break down into nine main standards, along with required specifications covered entities must implement, and/or addressable specifications they can choose between:

Taken together, these standards comprise about half of all security rule requirements.

 

Physical Safeguards

The physical safeguards add requirements that regulate the various physical endpoints used to access PHI. There are four main standards for physical safeguards, along with various specifications, which break down into the following:

Importantly, these standards apply not only to the physical space of the office, but also outside of it to workers’ homes or any other places where they must access ePHI.

 

Technical Safeguards

The technical safeguards establish basic requirements regarding the technologies and procedures used by a covered entity. These break down into five standards and accompanying specifications:

Given HIPAA’s flexibility and scalability, the technical standards don’t require any one particular product or service. They govern minimum requirements for any technology a company chooses.

 

Organizational Requirements

Finally, there are four remaining standards spread across organizational policies, procedures, and documentation. These break down as follows:

Across all these standards, the security rule can be challenging to follow. This difficulty compounds with the fact that HIPAA also entails three other rules.

 

Other HIPAA Rules, Explained

The HIPAA security rule works in conjunction with the other HIPAA rules to offer complete, comprehensive security standards across the healthcare industry. While the security rule safeguards ePHI, the other rules broaden the scope of protection to include all PHI and data breaches, as well as specific enforcement protocols:

The various rules and requirements spread across all of HIPAA’s rules make compliance a challenge for healthcare and health-adjacent companies of all sizes. This is especially true for small to medium sized businesses with relatively fewer resources dedicated to IT.

 

HIPAA Compliance, Across All Rules

The best way for many companies to ensure compliance with not only the security rule, but all of HIPAA, is to bring in professional help. To that effect, RSI Security offers comprehensive HIPAA compliance services to help you through every step of the process. We’re fully accredited Advisors and Assessors who can prepare you for compliance and certify you once you’re ready.

We’ll begin with an intake and consultation, gauging where you are in your journey toward compliance. Then, we will work with you to set up controls tailored to each of the rules detailed above, integrating them throughout your whole system and cybersecurity architecture. Compliance isn’t a one-time ordeal; you need to be set up for long-term security.

Our team can help you avoid the various penalties associated with noncompliance and other HIPAA violations, as well as the threats of cybercrime that HIPAA is designed to mitigate.

 

Professional Compliance and Cybersecurity

RSI Security isn’t just your best option when it comes to HIPAA compliance—our team of experts offer robust compliance advisory services for any protocol you’re required to follow. From HITRUST CSF to PCI DSS and everything in between, we’ve got you covered.

Plus, we know that compliance is far from the end of cybersecurity; it’s just the beginning. Keeping your company safe means going above and beyond the basic legal requirements. That’s why we offer a variety of managed security and IT solutions, including but not limited to:

We’ve provided cyberdefense guidance to companies of all sizes and across all industries for over a decade. Contact RSI Security today for assistance with the HIPAA security rule and all other cybersecurity solutions your company needs to keep you and your stakeholders safe. 

 

 

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