The past year has catalyzed a new era of healthcare, one where telehealth visits increased as we relied on online communication to keep ourselves informed and healthy. With these adoptions also comes new challenges and considerations, and in this case, more online healthcare data. This influx calls for us to re-examine the HIPAA Security Rule to ensure healthcare entities are protecting patient information. Show
An introduction to the HIPAA Security RuleIn 1996, Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the US healthcare system as well as patient privacy. In the following years, several additional rules were added to ensure patients’ protected health information (PHI). Two notable rules were added to HIPAA: the Privacy Rule, to help cover the physical security of PHI, and the Security Rule, to safeguard electronic protected health information (ePHI). In short, the HIPAA Privacy Rule explains what data needs to be protected and who should abide by those rules, whereas the Security Rule was conceived as a national standard to protect patients and explains how to protect ePHI. The law requires healthcare providers, plans and other entities to uphold patient confidentiality, privacy and security, and calls for three types of safeguards: administrative, physical, and technical. Administrative safeguardsCovered entities are required to implement administrative safeguards: policies and procedures that describe how the organization intends to protect ePHI and ensure compliance to the Security Rule. Examples include preparing a data backup plan and password management processes (among other things). These standards are laid out in §164.308 of the Security Rule. These processes include (but are not limited to) implementing the following major standards:
Physical safeguardsThese safeguards refer to both the physical structure of an organization and its electronic equipment. Policies and procedures include monitoring and remediating:
Technical safeguardsThis component includes the policies and procedures that determine how technology protects ePHI, as well as who controls access to that data. Typically, due to the level of technical literacy needed to understand this regulation, it is the most difficult for entities to understand. Technical safeguards include the following:
Safeguard your ePHIAt this time, the US Department of Health and Human Services has hundreds of logged cases of entities who did not protect health information and experienced a data breach, highlighting the severity one mishap can have by impacting hundreds to tens of thousands of patients. Health care information is highly sensitive and needs the utmost protection. The three components of the HIPAA Security Rule may seem difficult to implement and enforce, but with the right partners and procedures, it is feasible. Compliance is never a one-and-done event. You and your organization must take a stance to address compliance on an ongoing basis, as the risks of not doing so are far too great. Beyond the heavy fines and penalties, data breaches can also dissolve patient, customer, and client trust — an even costlier consequence. What are the three components of the HIPAA security Rule?The three components of HIPAA security rule compliance. Keeping patient data safe requires healthcare organizations to exercise best practices in three areas: administrative, physical security, and technical security.
What are the three components of security safeguards?Broadly speaking, the HIPAA Security Rule requires implementation of three types of safeguards: 1) administrative, 2) physical, and 3) technical.
Which four tasks or issues are types of physical safeguards required to comply with the HIPAA security Rule?There are four standards in the Physical Safeguards: Facility Access Controls, Workstation Use, Workstation Security and Devices and Media Controls.
What are considered administrative safeguards under the security Rule?Administrative Safeguards are policies and procedures that are implemented to protect the sanctity of ePHI and ensure compliance with the Security Rule. These requirements cover training and procedures for employees regardless of whether the employee has access to protected health information or not.
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