In the last several years, data breaches in the healthcare industry have become a major concern. 2021 was the worst year in terms of the number of healthcare data breaches and the second-worst year in terms of the number of healthcare records breached. Across the nearly 700 healthcare data breaches that occurred last year, 44,993,618 healthcare records were exposed or stolen. A single breach can be devastating, too. The largest breach of 2021 involved the firewall vendor, Accellion, and resulted in at least 3.51 million stolen records. 

For healthcare organizations, combatting data breaches should be a top priority. HIPAA Rules require healthcare organizations to protect patient information, and when they fail to do so, it can be costly. In 2021 for instance, Excellus Health Plan paid out $5,100,000 in penalties stemming from a data breach of 9,358,891 records that was reported in 2015. 

When you’re facing the unrelenting threat of data breaches and the risk of high penalties for failing to protect patients’ protected healthcare information (PHI), you want to do everything you can to comply with HIPAA rules. Here are several critical steps you should take to prevent HIPAA violations in your organization. 

1. Outsource IT Services to a Reputable Provider

The most effective way to mitigate HIPAA violations is to operate IT systems within a HIPAA-compliant hosting environment. This means having a robust firewall, encrypted VPNs, encryption for data at rest, multi-factor authentication, offsite data backup, event log management and 100% server availability and reliability. This is a lot to manage in-house, and you may see mixed results when you try to take this on all on your own. By outsourcing to a reputable, HIPAA-compliant hosting provider, PHI will be much safer. After all, maintaining secure IT systems is their full-time job. 

2. Encrypt, Encrypt, Encrypt!

Encryption secures digital data using one or more mathematical techniques, along with a “key” used to decrypt the information. With proper encryption, no one else will be able to access data who doesn’t also have the master key. For the storage of PHI, you’re required to use 256-bit AES encryption for data at rest. One option to achieve encryption compliance could be using an IT partner to implement technology that encrypts data efficiently with an encryption key unique to you. 

3. Control User Privileges

By controlling user privileges, you’re able to manage who has access to certain data and where they’re able to access it. Your users should only have access to the computers they need for work and only be able to access the data they need to do their jobs. You can accomplish this through Access Control Lists, by enforcing lock screen and logoff timeouts and by restricting physical access to certain areas. 

4. Create a Business Continuity Plan

To comply with HIPAA requirements, you need to create a business continuity plan that will dictate what happens during a major disaster, such as a ransomware attack. During a computer system outage, other contingencies must be put into place. This is often accomplished by working with a cloud hosting provider who can establish replica computer systems in an alternative location once a disaster is triggered. 

5. Don’t Forget Your Business Associates

Business Associates are entities that provide third-party services in which they will encounter PHI. Remember the firewall vendor responsible for the biggest data breach in 2021? That company would be considered a business associate along with any cloud hosting providers, IT partners and other employee apps. In order for your organization to be HIPAA compliant, third-party service providers must sign a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) specifying each party’s responsibilities when it comes to PHI.

CompanyMileage is dedicated to maintaining levels of security and compliance that meet or exceed the standards set by HIPAA. In accordance with the technical, physical and administrative standards of the HIPAA Security Rule, CompanyMileage encrypts data at NIST standards, uses secure logins and PINs, maintains secure servers and regularly monitored internal firewalls and maintains proper policies and procedures. A key part of these policies and procedures is the BAA we sign with every CompanyMileage client in the healthcare industry.

To learn more about our security standards and if our reimbursement solution will be a good fit for your organization, request a demo with us today.