How To Evaluate A Hipaa Compliant Data Center

How To Evaluate A Hipaa Compliant Data Center

If you host your data with a HIPAA compliant data center, certain administrative, valid and specialist safeguards should be in reservation, as specific by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Although all service providers doorstep their data centers as secure, how do you confirm it truly is HIPPA compliant?

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Charge Act, sets the standard for protecting sensitive patient data. Any company dealing with patient records must insure all the required substantial, network and process security measures are in village and followed.

The Minimum Safeguards

When rating providers, the following safeguards must be in joint:

- Essential safeguards - interject limited facility access and control, with endorsed access in village. All covered entities, or companies that must be HIPAA compliant, must have policies about use and access to workstations and electronic media. This requirement includes transferring, removing, disposing and re - using electronic media and safe health information ( abbreviated as PHI ).

- Specialized safeguards - need access control to acquiesce only accredited personnel to access electronic unharmed health data. Access control includes using unique user IDs, an emergency access procedure, automatic log off and encryption and decryption.

- Scan reports (, or tracking logs ) -, must be implemented to keep records of activity on hardware and software. This procedure is especially useful to discover the source or effect of any security violations. Solution providers should keep very enormous records in their building monitoring system, down to the second when somebody accessed a badge speaker on a door.

- Practical policies - should also cover incorruption controls, or measures put in city to confirm that PHI hasn ' t been variant or destroyed. IT tragedy recovery and offsite backup are keys to confirm that any electronic media errors or failures can be quickly remedied and patient health information can be recovered accurately and undocked. A HIPPA compliant data center must confirm crucial healthcare data it handles for providers and insurers will be safe and safe in the phenomenon of a catastrophe.

- Network, or transmission, security - is the last specialized security required of HIPAA compliant hosts to ok against unauthorized public access of PHI. This committal covers all methods of transmitting data, including email, Internet, or even over a personal cloud network.

Turn to Report Reports

Healthcare IT departments can insure HIPAA compliant hosting by running its servers and data storage in HIPPA compliant data centers. The best way to arrange the indispensable security is in whereabouts is to review the data center ' s SAS - 70 or SSAE 16 another look report. The display report should specifically cover the processes for the data center ' s rightful security, network security and access control to the data on the server.

A SAS - 70 patronymic confirms the data center complies with celebrated auditing standards. The second thought is conducted by an independent, third - party CPA. SAS - 70 certification includes two types of column reports:

- Type I - The first step in the auditing process evaluates the organization ' s humor of their at rest controls.
- Type II - Includes the Type I report and it evaluates how the controls were operating from when the Type I rethink was first conducted to six months thereafter.

The Staggering Price of Non - Compliance

HIPAA has been in longitude for a long time now, but its subjection and the financial impact of violations have been tough to spot in the recent. However, recent cases show violations can be inestimable.

Massachusetts General Hospital discovered Health and Human Services is getting serious about HIPAA violations. The hospital agreed to pay the $1 million to settle potential HIPAA violations. Massachusetts General ' s case involved the loss of sheltered health information ( PHI ) of 192 patients. The loss works out to over $5000 per inscribe.

A supplemental act was passed in 2009 called The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ( HITECH ) Act which supports the extortion of HIPAA requirements by raising the penalties of health organizations in offense of HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The HITECH Act was formed in response to health technology development and amassed use, storage and transmittal of electronic health information.

Healthcare IT organizations must ensure HIPPA compliant data centers have the required safeguards in locality. A SAS - 70 certified data center can help test compliance. Staying well informed of regulatory changes will help meet requirements and avoid valued penalties.