Technical, physical, and administrative measures must be put in place by covered companies and business partners in accordance with the HIPAA Security rule. HHS developed the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule as a result of HIPAA mandates. Since then, both laws have emerged as pillars of US health data security and privacy.
HIPAA-covered companies and their business associates can ensure compliance and put themselves in line with security best practises by thoroughly comprehending the HIPAA Security Rule and all of its varied elements.
PURPOSE, GOALS OF THE HIPAA SECURITY RULE
According to the HHS website, “the health care industry did not previously have any universally agreed set of security standards or broad obligations for protecting health information.”
“At the same time, new technologies were emerging, and the health care sector started to move away from paper processes and rely more heavily on the use of electronic information systems to pay claims, answer eligibility questions, provide health information, and conduct a host of other administrative and clinically based functions,” according to the report.
According to a CMS description, the HIPAA Security Rule mandates that covered entities and business partners implement appropriate security measures to guarantee the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of any ePHI that the entities own, create, maintain, or receive.
The rule also includes measures for monitoring employee compliance, recognising threats to ePHI, and defending against improper uses or disclosures. When creating security measures, entities should take into account size, complexity, and capabilities in addition to budget and infrastructure, according to CMS.
“Protecting the privacy of individual’s health information while allowing covered entities to use innovative technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care is a major purpose of the Security Rule,” according to HHS.
Given the diversity of the health care industry, the Security Rule is made to be adaptable and scalable so that a covered entity can use it to implement policies, practises, and technologies that are suitable for its particular size, organisational structure, and threats to consumers’ [ePHI] data.
The HIPAA Security Regulation is divided into a number of sections, including rules for risk analysis and management and demands for administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. The regulation calls on organisations to regularly update their documentation in response to organisational and environmental changes, as well as to maintain written security policies and procedures.
The flexibility of the rule allows for the designation of some aspects as “mandatory” and others as “addressable.”
“The implementation standards that are “mandatory” must be followed. The term “addressable” does not imply that an implementation specification is not required, “HHS claims.
“It does, however, give covered entities the option to decide if the addressable implementation specification is reasonable and suitable for their needs. If it isn’t, the Security Rule permits the covered entity to adopt a substitute if it is fair and appropriate and accomplishes the goal of the standard.”