If you work anywhere in the healthcare space, you’re probably very familiar with HIPAA compliance. Passed in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provides rules and guidelines for healthcare access, health information storage, health insurance, and more.
HIPAA consists of five primary parts or titles:
- HIPAA Title I – Health care access, portability and renewability,
- HIPAA Title II – Preventing health care fraud and abuse; administrative simplification; medical liability reform
- HIPAA Title III – Tax-related health provisions
- HIPAA Title IV – Group health insurance requirements
- HIPAA Title V – Revenue offsets for tax deductions
While HIPAA provides an important function of protecting the health coverage and personal information of individuals, along with reducing fraud across the industry, it can get a little confusing.
Arguably the most complex section of HIPAA is Title II, which among other things, covers how information is stored and accessed. Since almost everything is digital these days, that means Title II covers your hosting, server, and network setup.
Meeting the Requirements of HIPAA Title II
Failure to follow the proper requirements of HIPAA Title II can put your customers personal data at risk, not to mention result in some serious penalties. It’s very important that all of your information is stored securely within a HIPAA compliant system.
Of course, HIPAA extends beyond hosting, covering IT areas such as account access, password management, and more. You also need to be mindful of working with external vendors and third parties, as they bring additional risks and requirements regarding your data.
Professional Help for Staying HIPAA Compliant
By itself, the world of hosting and IT support is very technical. When you add in HIPAA compliance, the complexity multiplies. That’s why it’s best to utilize an experienced IT team that’s well versed in HIPAA compliance.
At DataYard, we offer a wide range of services for companies and organizations that operate under HIPAA. This includes private cloud hosting at our data center in Dayton, Ohio that meets HIPAA and HITECH requirements. Additionally, we can provide you with consultation, on-going support, and threat protection so that all of your technological and digital fronts are covered.
You don’t need to understand all of the complexities of HIPAA Title II. You just need an IT team that does. Contact us today!
