How to Remain HIPAA Compliant In Data Storage and Accessibility

June 24, 2015

How to Remain HIPAA Compliant

Healthcare organizations are required to ensure that their information and that of patients is protected and secured while also being easily accessed. Many healthcare facilities are switching to the simplicity offered by improved access to information through cloud technology. However, in order to avert breaching of the law and remain healthcare compliant, a healthcare facility should consider seeking help of HIPAA-compliant cloud storage, which not only offers improved performance but also solid protection for data secured in the servers. Here are tips on how data is protected when stored in cloud servers.

Data centers in multiple locations

The physical data storage is done in multiple locations with high-security standards put in place to ensure everything is protected. Healthcare data is much secure when it is stored in HIPAA complaints data centers because they understand the requirement that has been put forward by the law. Any breach of the law arising from mistakes of the data storage service providers could hit a healthcare enterprise hard.

Data redundancy

In data redundancy, a database or data storage technology is held in separate locations. When you have data securely stored in different or multiple locations, it reduces the risk of loss or damage. Catastrophic loss of date due to sabotage, theft, or natural disaster can cost healthcare facilities a lot of money and possible lawsuits because they don’t meet healthcare compliance.

Where a customer’s data is stored in a primary database server and then backed up in a database server for redundancy, this ensures increased security and reduced risks of data loss. When updates occur in the primary database, they are replicated in the disaster recovery facility or backup database in real time.

HIPAA requires healthcare enterprises to know what they are doing when they conduct their risk assessment. Security vulnerabilities, if not checked will inadvertently create violations of HIPAA, something that could get you into trouble.

For example, you may have your files stored in one of the cloud server providers and consider receiving email notifications that confirm when a file has been transferred and stored properly. However, if you make a mistake on your end and receive the notice of confirmation on a non-encrypted email box, they you have already created a vulnerability of your data. This could put you into problems with healthcare compliance regulations.

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