The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets the regulations for sensitive patient data protection for the healthcare industry. Companies that collect, store or use protected health information must have physical, network, and process security measures to keep data safe and be in compliance with HIPAA. Any entity that provides treatment, payment, or operations in healthcare and any business associates who may have access to data about treatment, payment or operations must be HIPAA compliant.
Partnered Solutions IT works with a variety of businesses that need to be HIPAA compliant, and we have the network and process requirements down to a science. First, we conduct the necessary audits and assessments according to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology Guidelines. Second, we help businesses identify the issues discovered during those audits and provide remediation for the identified deficiencies. We help businesses understand and comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule, HIPAA Security Rule, and the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule. We make sure there is a management system in place that will handle security incidents or breaches, help staff members report these anonymously, and carefully document investigations. We offer secure cloud storage solutions to back up data.
Some of the HIPAA compliance standards have evolved in 2019; last year saw a rise in the number of targeted ransomware attacks in the healthcare sector. Of particular interest to organizations that must currently be HIPAA compliant is that operating system Windows 7 will be end-of-life by the end of 2019–security updates will no longer be released. Let us know how we can help you to transition from Windows 7, avoid fines and penalties, and to upgrade your systems to better serve others.
