Understanding HIPAA Compliance in Cloud Storage
Being in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations is a top priority for all entities in the healthcare industry, as violating HIPAA rules can land a provider or organization in legal trouble. As more organizations incorporate cloud storage solutions into their practice, understanding how these solutions are HIPAA-compliant is essential.
What is HIPAA Compliance?
HIPAA legally requires organizations to protect sensitive patient data and only disclose it when the patient consents. The goal of this law is to allow healthcare providers in health and human services to share information in order to provide patients with personalized treatments while protecting patient health information.
While HIPAA is a US federal law, other countries have their own laws in place to protect patient information. For example, the European Union has the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects sensitive information while harmonizing data protection laws across EU member states.
Importance of HIPAA Compliance in Cloud Storage
As more healthcare organizations start to utilize cloud solutions to manage daily operations and store patient and organizational data, ensuring the solution is HIPAA-compliant is crucial. If a healthcare organization uses a cloud storage solution that doesn’t protect health data per HIPAA regulations, they are putting patient data at risk and opening the organization up to legal action.
In order to properly protect patient and organizational data, healthcare organizations should seek out cloud storage solutions that explicitly comply with HIPAA regulations.
Requirements for HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage
When searching for a cloud storage service to store electronic protected health information (ePHI), organizations should verify the vendor meets all of the HIPAA requirements, including data security, privacy, and breach notification rules. If a cloud vendor is not willing to sign a business associate agreement (BAA), organizations using their services put themselves at risk of not complying with HIPAA regulations.
While the vendors of cloud storage services are expected to build the solutions to be HIPAA-compliant, the healthcare organization also holds the responsibility to verify all aspects of the solution are compliant.
How to Choose the Best HIPAA-Compliant Cloud Solution
There are plenty of cloud storage solutions on the market for healthcare providers to choose from. When determining which solution is right, consider the following factors and how they can impact an organization and its providers.
Assessing the Security Features
The HIPAA security rule defines the steps business associates and covered entities must take to secure ePHI properly. These security features will guarantee that the data in the cloud storage solution is secure, keeping the protected information confidential. These features can include multi-factor authentication, data encryption keys, user access management, and network firewalls.
With security features in place, organizations can feel confident in their secure cloud storage solution, knowing they took all the necessary steps to protect patient information.
Evaluating the Customer Support
Having a cloud storage vendor that offers high-quality customer support is a beneficial feature organizations should seek out. The healthcare industry is moving at a rapid pace, so when users experience a problem with the solution, delays in support can cause bottlenecks in their workflows.
If healthcare organizations want to provide their staff with a solution that will enhance their administrative workflows while improving the patient experience, they need to have access to regular support to resolve issues quickly.
Comparing the Pricing Plans
When deciding which cloud storage solution is the best fit for an organization, the pricing plan is going to be a deciding factor. When comparing plans, look at the services included with the plan to see if any of them have more to offer than their competitors.
For example, some plans could include customer support, disaster recovery, or regular risk analysis. These services are important to examine, as they could offer more benefits than competitors at a similar price point.
Future Trends in HIPAA-Compliant Cloud Storage
The software industry is constantly evolving to adopt new solutions and technology to improve the user experience, meaning cloud services are also going to evolve in the future. Based on current trends in software and technology, here are a few trends we anticipate will impact the cloud computing environment.
Increase in Demand for Cloud-based Solutions in Healthcare
As cloud solutions became more established and secure, healthcare organizations started considering it a feasible solution to incorporate into daily operations. With a significant amount of the healthcare industry now using cloud technology to manage their practices, many cloud solutions are now being built in a HIPAA-compliant manner.
Cloud solutions offer healthcare organizations a way to provide patients with an enhanced care experience without threatening protected health information. With the increased demand for HIPAA-compliant technology, organizations will find that many cloud vendors are updating their services to apply HIPAA rules.
Advances in Encryption and Security
Physical security is the top priority when organizations store patient medical data on-premises. Some of the security steps taken included secure file storage, limited access to storage rooms, and risk management policies built around physical data storage.
When storing data in a cloud storage solution, the security steps are going to look different. These steps include audit trails, end-to-end encryption, and access monitoring. Healthcare organizations should also establish risk management policies to ensure there are no weak points in their workflows.
The Growth of AI and Machine Learning in Cloud Storage
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology have been developing at a rapid pace, and the healthcare industry has identified ways to incorporate them to improve daily operations and patient care. One of the benefits of cloud storage solutions is how they can easily be integrated with other software solutions to provide organizations with an optimal experience.
AI and ML technology can be used to create personalized treatment plans, support diagnosis efforts, and identify health indicators in a patient’s medical history. All of these actions require access to a patient’s health data, which can be easily organized and accessed with a cloud storage solution.
Work With Geneca Today
Geneca is a software consulting company with experts in software development, business analytics, and quality assurance. If you’re considering integrating a cloud storage solution into your business, we are here to help.
We will work together to determine which solution fits your needs and ensure it won’t negatively impact any other software solutions you use. Reach out to Geneca today for a commitment-free consultation!