Healthcare professionals share a responsibility to protect electronic health information. That’s where HIPAA’s Security Rule—and its technical safeguards—come in. These safeguards are the digital backbone of ePHI protection, addressing access, authentication, audit trails, and secure transmissions.
When used correctly, these safeguards can greatly lower the risk of data breaches and the penalties that come with them. In this blog, we’ll explain the basics of these safeguards, share simple tips for using them, and help you avoid common mistakes.
What Is HIPAA's Security Rule?
The HIPAA Security Rule enforces the protection and security of ePHI, i.e., any PHI that is created, stored, transmitted, or received in an electronic format. The HIPAA Security Rule mandates covered entities to implement security safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI through three core safeguards: technical, physical, and administrative.
What Are Technical Safeguards?
According to HIPAA, technical safeguards are “the technology and the policy and procedures for its use that protect electronic protected health information (ePHI) and control access to it.”
In simpler terms, HIPAA does not specify mandatory technologies for protecting ePHI. It, however, describes specifications for implementation. Covered entities are at liberty to use whatever security measure they wish to use reasonably and appropriately, provided they meet the specified standards. The five technical safeguards include:
- Access control
- Audit controls
- Integrity controls
- Person or entity authentication
- Transmission security
Access Control
The Security Rule defines access as “the ability or the means necessary to read, write, modify, or communicate data/information or otherwise use any system resource.”
HIPAA requires covered entities to implement policies and procedures that will maintain the integrity and privacy of ePHI by restricting its access to only people/software with granted access rights. The required aspects under access control are:
- Unique User Identification: Assign each employee a unique name and/or number to track their activity and identify them in all virtual movements.
- Emergency Access Procedure: Establish and implement necessary procedures for retrieving ePHI in the event of an emergency.
- Authentication: Implement procedures to verify that a person or entity requesting access to ePHI is the one claimed.
The addressable aspects under access control are:
- Automatic Log-Off: Install auto log-off software for workstations to end an online session after a predetermined time of inactivity to prevent unauthorized access.
- Encryption and Decryption: Implement systems that automatically encrypt and decrypt ePHI.
Audit Control
The Audit Control Standard requires covered entities to use hardware, software and any other procedural mechanism that can record and examine activity that involves ePHI. There are no specifications for meeting this safeguard, but here are some examples of audit controls:
- Tracking all log-ins and log-offs, including unsuccessful log-in attempts.
- Creating a log each time PHI is created, modified, or deleted.
Integrity Control
This standard requires covered entities to implement policies that can protect ePHI from improper alteration or destruction. To do this, they specify that covered entities put mechanisms that can authenticate ePHI. These mechanisms should be able to confirm that ePHI has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner.
Person or Entity Authentication
This standard expects covered entities to implement procedures that can verify the identity of a person/entity requesting access to ePHI. This standard has no implementation specification, but HIPAA makes some suggestions for authentication, such as using special passwords, pins, smart cards, fingerprints, face or voice recognition, or other methods.
Transmission Security
The Transmission and Security Standard requires covered entities to implement measures that prevent unauthorized access to ePHI when it is transmitted over an electronic communications network. This standard has implementation specifications which include:
- Encryption: Implement a system to encrypt ePHI when considered necessary.
- Integrity Controls: Implement security measures to prevent electronically transmitted ePHI from being improperly altered without detection until discarded.
Best Practices for Implementing Technical Safeguards
We encourage you to use these best practices as a checklist for implementing and maintaining technical safeguards for ePHI security
1. Risk Assessment
Start with an initial risk assessment before implementing a technical standard. An initial risk assessment will give you a clear picture of where you are and where you need to be. A good risk assessment must have a clear description of potential security hazards in your business, the severity of the risk, what/who is at risk, and the risk control measures in place. Remember to perform regular risk assessments throughout the year.
2. Documentation
You should have a fail-proof policy that incorporates HIPAA’s standards for security and privacy. This policy should be well written. You should also communicate the policy effectively to your workforce and provide the necessary training and education they need to consolidate their knowledge.
3. Employee Training
All workforce should have mandatory training on HIPAA Rules and Regulations. Employers should also train their staff on the company’s policies and provide recertification when needed. HIPAA Exams offer training for healthcare workers, business associates, dental professionals, HR professionals, and much more.
4. Incident Response Plan
An incident response plan can contain risk and prevent it from causing more damage. An incident response plan is typically included in a company’s policy. A good incident plan must have a clear description of incidents, escalation procedures, chain of command and their responsibilities, and an effective communication plan.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Here are common pitfalls that can increase your risk of breaching PHI security and privacy, and set you up for losses:
1. Overreliance On Technology
Does your business workflow rely heavily on technology? Granted, technology can make some tasks easier and faster. Automation removes human inconsistencies and errors and overall cuts down on cost. With these benefits, it may seem counter-intuitive to step down from technology. However, you may want to consider the drawbacks of overreliance on technology. The more technology you add to your workflow, the more risk there is of breaches to data security and privacy. One way to circumvent this risk is to look for areas to step down technology use. If this isn’t possible, be sure to develop robust risk assessment, risk management, and incident response policies.
2. Inadequate Staff Training
Poorly trained or untrained staff may become weak links in your data security measures. There are employers who may seek to cut down costs by skipping training altogether. However, the cost of not training will always exceed the cost of training in the long run. HIPAA Exams offer a range of HIPAA courses for different professionals. These courses are robust and are adapted to suit workplace needs. Most of our courses are just under $50. You can view our course catalog here.
3. Lack of Contingency Planning
A poorly written incident response plan can set your business up for noncompliance charges from the HIPAA. However, a fail-proof incident response plan requires a solid knowledge of HIPAA’s rules and regulations, and how they translate to practical contexts and situations.
4. Outdated Security Measures
How often should you update your security measures? HIPAA has no explicit statement on that. However, most experts recommend at least once a year or as soon as your software provider releases a new update, whichever comes first.
Enroll in HIPAA Training Today
Our HIPAA for Health Care Workers online course provides in-depth teaching on all HIPAA’s rules and regulations. The course also explains how these regulations affect you in practical terms. For example, it teaches healthcare workers what they must do to protect the integrity of PHI when managing patients, even in emergencies. The course extensively teaches about the Security Rule, explaining how the technical standards set a baseline for HIPAA’s expectations on PHI compliance. The course is accredited by the IACET and offers 0.2 Continuing Education Units.
Head to our website to view our full catalog and get started today!
