Do You Need HIPAA Compliance in Your Cloud Storage Solution?

February 20, 2015

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requires safe and secured information for clients. Failure to comply with HIPAA guidelines could put your organization in serious legal trouble. This can damage your company’s reputation and lead to fines and penalties. If your organization deals with the physical or mental health of clients, your backup solutions need to provide safety and security of that data.

How Data Centers Certify for HIPAA Compliance

To certify for HIPAA compliance, auditors examine data centers to ensure that the information they contain is safe from attacks. This may include tests such as those involved with SSAE 16, Type II SOC 2, and SOC 3 audits. By passing each of these examinations, a data center earns confirmation as a safe and secure location for storing sensitive medical files. For those interested in these compliance reports, the SOC 3 report is publicly available. The SOC 2 report stays strictly confidential due to the sensitive nature of the networking infrastructure information it contains.

Efficiency and Reliability of Compliant Storage

Due to the importance of health-related information, security may be only part of the efficiency offered by online storage services. The system’s stability plays a large role in efficiency because users need to access this information reliably. Uninterruptible power sources, strong networking infrastructure, and proper cooling technologies are also important when considering compliant Cloud-based storage methods. These capabilities are found using companies such as Volico hosting service. Volico provides secure firewall and IDS/IPS protection alongside strong compliance and hardware efficiency. This lets users maintain sensitive data securely without fear of losing information or waiting for systems to become available.

Choosing a HIPAA Compliant Cloud Hosting Provider

Cloud hosting services are an excellent alternative to storing files locally that may be compromised due to disasters, network failure or server corruption. When storing sensitive data such as an individual’s health information, data centers need secure encryption methods built in from the start. If your health organization needs a cloud-based backup solution, make sure it has been tested and is compliant with HIPAA standards. It may save your company from expensive lawsuits and civil cases.