How Healthcare Organizations Can Manage Evolving Regulations for Data Privacy

Healthcare organizations have been concerned with data privacy for decades, well before the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. But that doesn’t mean it’s gotten any easier to keep up with data privacy regulations. In addition to protected healthcare information (PHI), healthcare organizations also process payment data and personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers and biometric records. New rules, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), have made data security and compliance more complex.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote interactions between patients and healthcare professionals increased. Reporting from that period described widespread use of patient portals, with usage rising further when practices closed their doors. That shift highlighted the importance of protecting PHI when patients and personnel access it remotely. Here’s what you need to know to maintain compliance and prevent the costs and reputational damage that come with data breaches.

Even without the NIST toolkit, it should be evident that maintaining adequate security protocols encompasses nearly every aspect of your operations, from people and processes to your facility and equipment. While this may seem an arduous undertaking, the following best practices can help improve data management and facilitate your HIPAA compliance.

1. Keep systems up to date - Make sure to update all of your computers with the latest operating systems and security patches. Your antivirus systems and firmware should be up to date as well. We recommend updating all devices and systems within 90 days of new software and firmware releases.
2. Engage an external auditor - Even if you have an internal compliance auditor, it is possible to miss potential security issues. It never hurts to have someone else check their work. A third-party auditor can be a second set of eyes to validate your internal review.
3. Train employees on security awareness - As data privacy concerns and cyber attackers’ tactics evolve, security awareness training is critical to preventing employees from unknowingly jeopardizing private information. Training should cover how to avoid malicious software, proper password management, login monitoring, data sharing do’s and don’ts, and general education on new regulations and potential vulnerabilities.
4. Use cloud-based architecture to minimize your risk exposure - Many organizations are adopting cloud-based IT architectures to address ever-changing security requirements and meet demands for rapid information access. The cloud offers infrastructure and tools that are less expensive than those of an on-premise setup, and it requires fewer resources to manage.
5. Consider HITRUST certification - Health Information Trust Alliance (or HITRUST for short) provides a common security framework to address the requirements across various compliance standards and security frameworks. These standards include Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI), Data Security Standard (DSS), HIPAA, NIST, ISO 27000, FTC, and Control Objectives For Information And Related Technology (COBIT), just to name a few. As the gold standard in healthcare security compliance, HITRUST certification spans the full range of data privacy concerns. Organizations that adhere to HITRUST standards can ensure their patients and employees that they’ve gone well beyond HIPAA when it comes to compliance.