HIPAA-compliant hosting refers to specialized hosting services designed to safeguard patient data through comprehensive technical, physical, and administrative safeguards mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

These specialized environments implement rigorous security measures including encryption, access controls, continuous monitoring, and audit logging that standard hosting solutions typically lack.

The stakes for non compliance are exceptionally high. Healthcare organizations face potential financial penalties ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation (with an annual maximum of $1.5 million), legal consequences including civil lawsuits and possible criminal charges, severe reputational damage that can undermine patient trust, and significant operational disruptions. A single data breach can devastate even well-established healthcare organizations, making proper compliance non-negotiable.

Arkenea, with 14+ years of exclusive healthcare experience, offers HIPAA-compliant healthcare mobile app development and healthcare web development services. Contact us today for a free consultation on your healthcare project.

In this guide, we look at all the providers that offer the best HIPAA compliant hosting:

• 13 top HIPAA-compliant web hosting servers
• How to choose a HIPAA-compliant web hosting provider

13 Best HIPAA-Compliant Web Hosting Providers for 2026

#1 Atlantic.Net HIPAA Web Hosting Provider

Atlantic.Net is our top pick for HIPAA‑compliant hosting and one of the most experienced and trusted U.S.-based providers, serving businesses since 1994. They deliver a fully audited, CPA‑certified, and reliable platform built from the ground up for HIPAA compliance, backed by a 100% SLA and expert USA‑based support.

Atlantic.Net is a HIPAA compliant hosting provider that offers a full range of HIPAA hosting and related HIPAA compliance products. You can choose for HIPAA compliant server hosting, but also for more specialized HIPAA compliant database hosting, application hosting or offsite backups.

They offer custom-built HIPAA compliant hosting solutions, HIPAA compliant cloud storage and compliance services.

You can also decide to place your own servers in their HIPAA compliant data center. All of the products are combined with active and aggressive monitoring for security purposes making sure that the electronic protected health information stays safe through HIPAA compliant hosting and stays in accordance to HIPAA guidelines.

Support

24/7/365 Phone, Ticketing and Email Support.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Atlantic.Net

Offers numerous plans segregated by whether they are storage optimized, memory optimized or compute optimized. Atlantic.Net offers HIPAA hosting packages for developers, businesses, and enterprise.

#2 Amazon Web Services (AWS) HIPAA Web Hosting

AWS HIPAA Hosting is one of the most popular and trusted HIPAA compliant cloud storage servers for building healthcare apps. AWS has utility-based cloud services to process, store, and transmit Protected Health Information (PHI).

They sign a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) with you and provide you the physical server isolation you need. The BAA contract clarifies how your HIPAA obligations will be shared with AWS for HIPAA compliant hosting.

There’s back-end storage that can be mounted and you can fiddle with the amount of disk space. If you like, you can add EBS (Elastic Block Store), which is disk space that lives in the racks near you.

Customers can use any AWS service in HIPAA-compliant cloud applications. However, only the HIPAA-eligible services, including HIPAA hosting defined in AWS’s BAA can be used to process, store, and transmit personally-identifiable patient data for HIPAA compliant hosting.

AWS’ BAA currently applies to 9 services.

Cost of Amazon AWS HIPAA Web Hosting

AWS pricing is based on the usage of individual services, so you only pay for what you use. Even then, prices for HIPAA compliant hosting might start at 0.016/hour. There are many online articles that mislead on the true cost of HIPAA compliant hosting with Amazon AWS, some stating it would cost more than $2,000/month once you sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). This is not true at all.

Here’s what the truth is:

Before, Amazon Web Services (AWS) mandated that organizations use “Dedicated Instances” exclusively for developing HIPAA compliant services. This resulted in higher costs for implementing HIPAA compliant workloads. Startups and organizations with limited resources faced challenges in creating HIPAA compliant services on AWS.

However, in May 2017, AWS announced the elimination of this dedicated instance requirement. This means that organizations can now utilize the AWS HIPAA Security program with instances of any size. When building HIPAA compliant applications on AWS, organizations are no longer restricted to specific instance sizes and can take advantage of a wide range of HIPAA-eligible services, including various EC2 services.

Ratings and reviews – AWS

InfoWorld: Amazon, the mother of all clouds

PC Mag: Editor rating for Amazon EC2: Good

Trustradius rating: 4.1/5

Cloudreviews editor rating: 5/5

#3 Microsoft Azure HIPAA Web Hosting Server

It calls itself ‘The cloud for modern business’. Microsoft Azure, formerly Windows Azure, is Redmond’s cloud computing platform.

Azure is a great competitor in the cloud application hosting arena, providing HIPAA compliant hosting solutions, and it’s perfect if you’re hosting a .NET application. There are three main divisions of the Azure service: Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS, or virtual machines), web hosting (for mostly static sites) and platform-as-a-service.

Azure is certified according to the many control frameworks that make up HITRUST, including HIPAA/HITECH and ISO 27001, providing a compliant foundation for healthcare industry customers, but the end-user solution is owned and managed by the Azure subscriber (and is thus not in-scope for Azure compliance processes).

Microsoft currently offers the HIPAA hosting/ BAA to all US customers as part of their Online Services Terms (OST).

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Microsoft Azure

Service runtime is billed on hourly basis and covers the compute supporting the RESTful API layer that sits on top of the backend storage ($0.40 per hour). Structured Storage is billed for each GB used for your SSD-backed data and index ($0.25/GB/month). Provisioned throughput per 100RU/s (request units per second) is at $0.008 per hour.

Ratings and reviews – Microsoft Azure

PC Mag’s Editors’ Choice for small business cloud services.

Cloudreviews editor rating: 4/5

#4 Armor (previously Firehost) HIPAA Web Hosting Server

Armor prides itself as the most comprehensive secure cloud inTrueVault handles all physical and technical safeguards required by HIPAA infrastructure and HIPAA regulations to support HIPAA-compliant hosting needs and ensure HIPAA compliance.

Armor is certified against the Common Security Framework (CSF) from the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) to address HIPAA compliance requirements and provide HIPAA compliant hosting solutions and managed aws provider.

It is industry’s first true Compliance as a Service solution (Caas) giving HIPAA compliant hosting services.

Caas is a complete solution that provides insight into everything required for compliance: secure infrastructure, gap analysis, remediation, audit, ongoing security & compliance monitoring, and incident response and forensics.

You can access Armor support via live chat, phone numbers, and ticketing service. They are also active in social media networks.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Armor

Prices not disclosed. Offer a 30 second discovery tool that aligns the data workload to the hosting solution that meets database management, security and compliance requirements.

Ratings and reviews

Cloudreviews Editor and user rating: 4/5

#5 Truevault HIPAA Web Hosting

Truevault is another good option for ensuring your application meets the HIPAA technical and physical safeguards for meeting HIPAA compliant hosting requirements.

Truevault is one of the web hosting companies providing HIPAA compliant cloud hosting API and secure data store. It has a secure API to store health data and handles all physical and technical safeguards required by HIPAA. TrueVault decouples consumer identity from consumer behavior to eliminate data security risks and compliance liabilities, giving companies only the data they need.

As a HIPAA compliant hosting partner, it will sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with you upon account activation. This will ensure customer protection under a comprehensive Privacy and Data breach insurance policy for healthcare providers.

It enables you to store and search protected health information (PHI) in any file format through RESTful APIs. It also provides user identity and access control for your application.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Truevault

For its HIPAA compliant web hosting services, it offers three pricing tiers for startup, business and enterprise which vary in the number of ops, managed services and identities offered.

Ratings and reviews

No reviews found

#6 RackSpace HIPAA Website Hosting Server

Rackspace provides three types of cloud servers: open, private, and hybrid cloud. The private cloud environment offers HIPAA ready hosting. They also hold a HITRUST CSF (common security framework) certification that confirms their adherence to the high levels of data privacy standards. They have decent hardware, 15+ operation systems, image backups, Raid 10, impressive scalability, and many other services.

To help customers meet their compliance requirements with regards to HIPAA, Rackspace offers a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) in their dedicated hosting services segments. The public cloud can be set up in two ways- a managed infrastructure level and a managed operations level with the former being the less expensive option.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With RackSpace

Offers utility based pricing costs with the option to choose from general purpose, compute optimized, I/O optimized and memory optimized resulting in consumption based pricing and billing.

Ratings and reviews

PC MAG Editor rating: Excellent

Cloudreviews editor rating: 5/5

#7 VMRacks (HIPAA Vault) Web HIPAA Hosting

VM Racks, that launched HIPAA Vault, is a privately-held cloud service provider offering a full suite of HIPAA Compliant Solutions including hosting, email, sftp and more.

They have a trademarked solution called True HIPAA Compliance™ which they use to guarantee their cloud hosting packages are 100% HIPAA compliant and they sign BAA’s for all customers.

The HIPAA compliant hosting providers support both Windows and Linux operating systems. The company provides services that deal with electronic patient health information (e-PHI), electronic medical records (EMR) and HIPAA compliant email services for the covered entity.

All of their HIPAA Compliant plans include monitoring, hardening, scanning, patching, and server security. Support for desktop, Android, and Apple applications also allows for greater accessibility to important documents and information from virtually anywhere.

Support System

24/7 support with every web hosting plan.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With VMRacks

Basic plan starts at $199/month which includes 2 GB memory, 50 GB storage, 320 GB bandwidth and true HIPAA Compliance.

#8 Liquid Web HIPAA Hosting Service

To verify your data is secured to HIPAA compliance standards the company provides cloud solutions and compliance services with technical controls, backup management, disaster recovery, offsite data centers, safeguards and physical security policies and HIPAA compliant environment to ensure compliance with HIPAA security rule.

Business Associate Agreements (BAA) is available upon request, which will require the acquisition of server configurations that meet minimum security requirements.

Support

24*7 support system in place; they call it HIPAA-trained Heroic Support® engineers.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Liquid Web

for the hosting providers, the single server web hosting starts at $299 and $359 for Linux and Windows respectively. The price for multiple server web hosting starts at $788 for Linux and $958 for Windows.

#9 Aptible HIPAA Web Hosting Server

Aptible enables healthcare providers and digital health organizations to implement an entire HIPAA compliance program through managed services and dedicated servers.

They run on deployment workflow, and their compliance validation engines streamline every component of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, and Breach Notification Rules.

They provide comprehensive packages, including backups, audit trails, and even employee training.

Support

You can leave a mail or chat with them. They usually respond within an hour or so during business hours.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Aptible

Fully customised pricing plans based on your requirement as a part of aptible comply. Under aptible deploy, the development packs start at $0 while the production packs start at $999 per month.

Rating

4.4 on G2.com

#10 Datica (erstwhile Catalyze) Cloud HIPAA Hosting 

Catalyze, or now rebranded as Datica, is a HIPAA compliant hosting solution that provides cloud computing for healthcare apps. They offer two products: a backend-as-a-service (BaaS), or set of APIs to build compliant apps and a compliant platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for running custom applications and databases.

For both products, they provide logging, monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, encryption (in-transit and at rest), IDS, dedicated servers, file integrity logging, and vulnerability scanning. Datica is HITRUST Certified.

Support

You need to submit a ticket. Responses are sent within 24 hours. Existing customers typically receive a response in less than an hour during normal working hours.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Datica

Offers compliant kubernetes service for ensuring compliance of patient data in the cloud. It also offers Datica integrate which is the industry’s first any-to-any solution for health data integration and compliance.

The pricing quotation of both these solutions can obtained on call with the Datica team.

#11 Connectria HIPAA Web Hosting Server

Connectria offers enterprise level HIPAA compliant hosting solutions. They offer HIPAA-compliant hosting for customers in the healthcare and dental industry or anyone who must comply with the HIPAA and HITECH Act security standards surrounding the storage of Protected Health Information (PHI).

Connectria has partnered up with TripWire to offer HIPAA compliance monitoring. They setup and manage HIPAA Compliant environments in their data centers, and also in HIPAA Compliant environments in AWS.

They are Business Associates Agreement (BAA) friendly web hosting service, and routinely enter into Business Associates Agreements with our customers.

They have a pretty aggressive service level agreement (SLA) offering a 100% uptime guarantee as well as a 100% secure guarantee.

Support

Solutions Architects are available 7 days a week for assistance. You need to fill a form and they usually get back within 24 hours.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Connectria

Prices are based off your monthly cloud spend. Spend under $2k a month starts at $199 and up to $10k a month comes at $399 per month. If your spend exceeds $10k, the quotation can be obtained via consultation.

#12 LightEdge HIPAA Web Hosting Server

LightEdge, which acquired OnRamp’s fully-compliant HIPAA Foundation Solution, bundles the compliance-critical hardware and software features to help you meet HIPAA’s stringent compliance requirement.

Their offering comes with a whole range of HIPAA compliance service. OnRamp’s HIPAA compliant web hosting allows you to choose from 3 different HIPAA hosting solutions, with HIPAA foundation solution, HIPAA advanced solution, and HIPAA enterprise solution.

LightEdge has also developed a 3-Step HIPAA Risk Management Tool to easily diagnose, assess and manage any vulnerabilities and risks with implementing customers’ IT infrastructure at OnRamp.

Support

IT infrastructure and critical data backed support available for 24/7/365.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With LightEdge

Price on request.

#13 Healthcare Blocks HIPAA Web Hosting

Healthcare Blocks is a HIPAA-compliant application platform that powers healthcare technology systems of all sizes, from small startups to large medical groups.

They are partnered with and built on Amazon Web Services. They are Business Associates Agreement (BAA) friendly and don’t ask for any long-term contracts from the customers.

The platform is fully-managed by the Healthcare Blocks team and offers versatility, with most languages and databases supported.

Cost of HIPAA Hosting With Healthcare Blocks

The startup package starts at $170 per month while the growth package starts at $1065 per month. The enterprise packages are available on request.

Support

Available via email, chat, and help desk website. Response time is usually less than 1 hour during normal business hours.

How to Choose a HIPAA-Compliant Hosting Provider

Selecting the right HIPAA-compliant web hosting provider is a critical decision that goes far beyond comparing price points or technical specifications. It requires careful evaluation of multiple factors to ensure both regulatory compliance and optimal security for your patients’ sensitive data. Before reviewing our list of recommended providers, consider this comprehensive framework for making your selection:

1. Verify Business Associate Agreement (BAA) Terms and Willingness

A provider’s willingness to sign a Business Associate Agreement is non-negotiable, but not all BAAs offer equal protection:

• Ensure the provider readily offers a BAA without excessive negotiation or additional fees
• Review the BAA thoroughly for any limitation of liability clauses that might compromise your protection
• Verify the agreement explicitly covers breach notification procedures and responsibilities
• Confirm the BAA includes proper indemnification provisions to protect your organization
• Check that the agreement clearly specifies which services are covered under HIPAA compliance

2. Assess Comprehensive Security Features

The technical security infrastructure should include, at minimum:

• Encryption: Both at-rest and in-transit encryption using current industry standards (AES-256 or better)
• Access Controls: Role-based access controls, multi factor authentication, and IP-based restrictions
• Audit Logging: Comprehensive audit trails that track all access and activity related to PHI
• Intrusion Detection/Prevention: Active monitoring systems that identify and block potential threats
• Vulnerability Management: Regular scanning and remediation procedures for security vulnerabilities
• Patch Management: Timely application of security updates to all system components
• Backup Systems: Encrypted, redundant backup systems with regular testing of restoration procedures

3. Evaluate Data Center Security and Compliance Certifications

Physical security and third-party validations provide additional assurance:

• SOC 2 Type II Certification: Verifies the provider maintains rigorous controls for security, availability, and confidentiality
• HITRUST CSF Certification: Demonstrates compliance with a comprehensive healthcare-specific security framework
• ISO 27001: Shows adherence to international information security management standards
• Physical Security Measures: Biometric access controls, 24/7 monitoring, and environmental protections
• Geographical Redundancy: Multiple data centers to ensure business continuity during regional disasters

4. Understand Service Level Agreements and Uptime Guarantees

Reliability is paramount for healthcare systems:

• Look for providers offering at least 99.95% uptime guarantees, with financial remedies for failures
• Review the incident response procedures and timeframes for different severity levels
• Understand the scheduled maintenance windows and how they might impact your operations
• Verify network redundancy and the provider’s track record for maintaining uptime
• Ensure SLAs include clearly defined performance metrics beyond simple uptime

5. Evaluate Customer Support Quality and HIPAA Expertise

Support teams should understand both technical issues and compliance requirements:

• Confirm 24/7/365 support availability through multiple channels (phone, email, chat)
• Inquire about support staff’s HIPAA training and certification
• Request average response times and resolution timeframes for different issue severities
• Ask about escalation procedures for critical issues
• Check if dedicated account representatives with healthcare expertise are available

6. Consider Scalability and Future-Proofing

Your hosting needs will likely evolve as your organization grows:

• Assess the ease of scaling resources up or down based on changing requirements
• Understand the provider’s roadmap for implementing new security technologies
• Evaluate flexibility for adopting emerging healthcare integration standards
• Consider compatibility with your development roadmap and technology stack
• Verify the provider’s financial stability and long term viability in the market

7. Analyze Pricing Structure and Contract Terms

Total cost of ownership should be transparent and predictable:

• Compare base pricing against “all-in” pricing including HIPAA compliance features
• Watch for hidden fees related to bandwidth, backup storage, or additional security features
• Review minimum contract durations and termination conditions
• Understand data migration costs both into and potentially out of the provider
• Evaluate whether pricing tiers align with your current and projected future needs

8. Assess Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Provisions

Healthcare operations cannot afford extended downtime:

• Review the provider’s Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
• Verify regular disaster recovery testing and documentation
• Understand the geographical distribution of backup systems
• Check if the provider offers assistance with developing your required contingency plans
• Confirm the availability of redundant systems across all critical infrastructure components

By methodically evaluating potential hosting providers against these eight critical dimensions, you can make a more informed decision that balances compliance requirements, security needs, operational considerations, and budget constraints.

Remember that choosing a HIPAA-compliant web hosting provider establishes a critical partnership for safeguarding your patients’ most sensitive information. It’s a responsibility that demands thorough due diligence.

The post 2026’s Trusted HIPAA-Compliant Web Hosting Servers appeared first on .

• Types of apps that need to be HIPAA compliant are telemedicine, EHRs, remote patient monitoring mobile applications, and condition-based healthcare apps. Applications that don’t require compliance are fitness apps, diet, and wellness applications as long as they do not handle PHI.
• If any hospital fails to follow HIPAA compliance, they suffer heavy fines. Hospitals must pay a fine ranging from $100 to $50,000 if it fails to protect patient privacy.
• The average cost of a full featured HIPAA-compliant mobile application is anywhere between $70,000-$150,000 in the first iteration or version (MVP) and depending on the scope. It covers the development of the entire app, encompassing physical and technical security guidelines.

As security threats and data breaches continue to grow, so does the need to protect confidential patient data with utmost care. For this reason, healthcare providers and businesses are seeking ways to create applications that meet the requirements of HIPAA regulations.

It implements stringent industry standards for information, sensitive patient-doctor data, and billing to protect your healthcare data.

Here we discuss the best practices and tips you need to know in order to develop a HIPAA-compliant app:

HIPAA Compliant Mobile App Development

In 1996, former US President Bill Clinton signed and introduced the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as a Federal Law. The act mandated a list of standards for electronic medical records (EHR) across the nation.

Its goal was to help workers in the US ensure privacy, transfer coverage, and extend benefits to their family members. Today, HIPAA security rules help maintain the confidentiality, availability, safety, and integrity of Patient Health Information (PHI).

HIPAA-compliant apps can protect ePHI as it implements HIPAA-approved standards, such as:

• Technical Safeguards
• Physical Safeguards
• Administrative Safeguards

What Data Does HIPAA Compliance Protect?

HIPAA requires healthcare business providers and workers to implement its guidelines and standards to protect the following information:

• Conversations between a medical professional and nurses or other specialists about a patient’s care or treatment.
• Data from a patient’s health insures’ computer.
• Information added to a patient’s medical record by doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers.
• Patient billing and payment information.
• Other private health information owned and managed by health providers and others who fall under this law.

Arkenea has over 14 years of experience as a HIPAA-compliant mobile app development company. Get in touch with us today for a free consultation and quote.

Healthcare Data Breach Statistics

• 721 healthcare data breaches reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2024.
• Over 275 million patient records compromised, representing a significant increase in breach severity.
• The largest healthcare data breach in history occurred during the Change Healthcare ransomware attack, affecting approximately 190 million individuals.
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan experienced a breach impacting 13.4 million individuals.
• Average cost per healthcare data breach reached $10.93 million in 2024, the highest of any industry.

HIPAA Compliant Mobile Application: Main Features

HIPAA compliant app development starts with understanding its main features:

1. User Identification

Allowing users to log into your mobile app via email is not safe and increases the risks of data breaches. HIPAA compliant apps should use a strong password or PIN for user authentication.

Or they can add a smart key or card, biometric identification, or face identification.

2. Access during Emergencies

Easy access to healthcare data is essential and must continue regardless of the circumstances. During times of emergency, healthcare providers need to ensure essential services and utilities don’t experience a disruption.

For this reason, you need to ensure you have a solution for potential disasters like running out of electricity.

3. Data Encryption

Data encryption is critical in healthcare apps to ensure confidential data is safe. In addition, it implements an extra layer of protection against malicious malware and breaches.

Since emails are not encrypted, healthcare providers should refrain from sharing information through emails. Ensure you encrypt all data, whether you store it in SaaS or Cloud Servers.

4. Data Transit Encryption

To ensure maximum safety, you need to implement data encryption during transmission. Use AWS, Google Cloud, or similar tools running Transport Layer Security 1.2.

With these revolutionary tools, you can effectively address all encryption, authentication, and identification specifications outlined by HIPAA.

5. Data Subject to HIPAA Compliance

According to the U.S. HSS, the following patient information constituted the PHI alongside health data:

• Name of the patient
• Geographical subdivisions smaller than a state
• Dates related to the patient, including birth date, discharge date, date of death, admission date, etc.
• Phone numbers
• Fax numbers
• Email addresses
• Medical record numbers
• Social security numbers
• P. addresses
• Biometric identifiers, such as voiceprints and fingers
• Health plan beneficiary numbers
• Web URLs
• Account numbers
• Certificate and license numbers
• Device identifiers
• Vehicle identifiers like license plate numbers
• Full-face photographic images and comparable images
• Any unique identifying characteristic, number, or code

What Types of Healthcare Apps Need HIPAA Compliance?

The following types of healthcare apps need to be HIPAA compliant:

• Telemedicine apps
• Condition-based healthcare apps
• Electronic Health Records apps

A few mHealth apps that do not need to follow HIPAA guidelines include:

• Workout programs apps
• Diet apps
• IoT fitness apps

What Are HIPAA Violation Penalties?

Organizations that fail to follow the rules set by HIPAA face heavy fines. The following are four different situations and the amount an organization must pay during a year.

1. When an organization is unaware of a HIPAA violation, can not avoid it realistically, and undergoes utmost care to prevent the violation must pay $100 to $50,000 per violation. Organizations must pay a maximum of $25,000 per year.
2. When an organization should have known about the violation even if they could not avoid it even though they tried their best, it has to pay $1000 to $50,000 per violation, a maximum of $100,000 per year.
3. When an organization violates HIPAA Rules due to willful neglect but takes measures to correct it within thirty days, it has to pay $10,000 to $50,000 per violation, a maximum of $250,000 per year.
4. When an organization violates HIPAA Rules due to willful neglect but does not take measures to correct it within thirty days, it must pay $50,000 per violation, a maximum of $1.5 million annually.

HIPAA Compliant Mobile App Development Rules

For HIPAA Compliant App Development, developers follow some primary rules that have proven beneficial for the creation and function of the application.

The following are four primary rules necessary to develop a HIPAA-compliant app.

• Privacy
• Security
• Enforcement
• Breach

Scenario: When to Build a HIPAA Compliant Mobile Application?

If a healthcare organization or clinic wants to custom build a mobile app to track patients, store and transmit health information, and surface real time updates on patient status. Because this type of app handles ePHI and supports clinical decision making, it must follow HIPAA requirements.

Contrast that with a company being asked to develop a fitness or wellness app. These apps typically collect basic personal metrics such as age, weight, height, and BMI from home based devices. Since no covered entities are involved and the information is meant for personal use, HIPAA compliance is not required in this scenario.

HIPAA Compliant Mobile App Development Guide

HIPAA compliant app development is a complex task that requires developers to follow strict guidelines. Here’s an easy-to-understand guide on how to make a mobile application HIPAA compliant.

Technical Safeguards

Technical safeguards focus on encryption data that doctors and patients transfer and store on servers and devices. Typically, technical safeguard practices include:

Access Control Requirements

Access control ensures that only authorized individuals can access confidential physical health information. To ensure this, developers need to implement the following things:

• Unique User Identification- Software systems should feature unique identifications to ensure users have different login credentials. Moreover, employees should avoid sharing usernames and password
• Emergency Access Procedures- Users should be able to access necessary e-PHI in case of emergencies
• Automatic Logoff- The system should automatically log you out after you’re using
• Encryption and Decryption- You should encrypt all ePHI data stored on the app or software systems

Transmission Security

Developers need to ensure that encrypted all ePHI is transmitted from one system to the other via communication networks.

You may implement various mechanisms to ensure that hackers cannot alter or breach any transmitted data.

Audit and Integrity

HIPAA compliant software needs to implement hardware, procedural, and software tools that can effectively track the activity in various systems.

In addition, healthcare providers and businesses need to ensure that confidential patient data within the HIPAA compliant app does not corrupt unintentionally. To protect the integrity of ePHI data, they may place revolutionary mechanisms.

Physical Safeguards

Physical safeguards encompass network protection for data transfer, backend, and devices on Android/iOS. They prevent the loss and theft of data by requiring developers to enforce authentication.

To ensure the security of doctor-patient data, you need to implement a multi-factor authentication system:

Device Controls

Ensure you wipe all sensitive data if you’re disposing of software that previously contained confidential data.

HIPAA requires compliant apps to delete relevant healthcare data from old and unused devices.

Workstation Safety

Healthcare businesses should guarantee maximum workstation safety by ensuring no one other than the employees can view computer monitors.

In addition, all systems should have strong passwords on their screensavers.

Workstation Use

Ensure that all devices used on a workstation, such as computers, mobile phones, etc., are appropriately logged off and secured when not in use.

In addition, antivirus software should always be up-to-date.

Facility Access Control

Facility access control means limiting access to facilities where you store ePHI.

Implementing facility access control practices and policies can help prevent unauthorized users and malicious malware from breaching your hardware.

Administrate Safeguards

Administrating safeguards means managing the implementation, working, and maintenance of security measures crucial to protect ePHI.

• HIPAA compliant app development must include Information Access Management to ensure that employees have access to relevant ePHI
• Only particular people should have access to ePHI and only if it is relevant to their job function
• Employees must undergo regular training to learn and familiarize themselves with new security policies relevant to ePHI
• In the case of a security breach, users should implement a contingency plan to notify all affected parties

Cloud Platform Specific Implementation

Amazon Web Services (AWS) HIPAA Compliance

AWS offers a comprehensive suite of HIPAA-eligible services that healthcare organizations can leverage for compliant application development. The key services include Amazon EC2 for secure computing instances, Amazon S3 for encrypted data storage, Amazon RDS for database management with encryption at rest and in transit, and AWS CloudTrail for comprehensive audit logging. Organizations must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with AWS and ensure that all data processing occurs within HIPAA eligible services configured with appropriate security controls.

Microsoft Azure Healthcare Solutions

Microsoft Azure provides specialized healthcare cloud services including Azure Health Data Services, which offers FHIR-compliant APIs for healthcare data exchange, and Azure Confidential Computing for processing sensitive health information in encrypted environments. Azure’s compliance framework includes built in HIPAA controls, automated compliance monitoring, and comprehensive audit capabilities that simplify the compliance process for healthcare developers.

Google Cloud Healthcare API

Google Cloud’s Healthcare API provides managed services specifically designed for healthcare data, including FHIR, HL7v2, and DICOM data stores with built in HIPAA compliance features. The platform offers advanced security features such as customer managed encryption keys (CMEK), VPC Service Controls for network isolation, and Cloud Security Command Center for continuous security monitoring.

HIPAA Compliant App Development: Key Steps

To help you create a HIPAA compliant app, we have a step-by-step guide to follow. Read the procedure to understand the process thoroughly.

Step 1: Hire an expert

To make an app HIPAA compliant, you need to have experience. If you do not have enough experience, you must hire a third-party expert to help you with essential guidance and support. You can also outsource HIPAA compliant app development to a skilled team.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a Health System, you must look for an expert’s services to perfectly design and develop the application. Arkenea has over 14 years of exclusively healthcare app development experience. Get in touch with us for a free consultation and quote.

Step 2: Data evaluation and differentiating PHI from other applications

Evaluate the patient’s data to separate PHI data. Once done, evaluate what PHI data you cannot transfer or store.

Step 3: Come up with 3rd-Party Solutions

Designing a HIPAA compliant app is a costly investment. To start creating the application, you need to have enough resources to support the overall expenses.

The total cost of HIPAA compliant app development consists of designing the entire system that meets the technical and physical security requirement. In addition, you will need time to audit the system and get all the required certifications.

Such applications minimize the chances of misinformation and errors.

Step 4: Encrypt stored and transferred data

The primary benefit of using a HIPAA compliant app is the surety of safeguarding patients’ data. To ensure safety, healthcare organizations must use applications to protect one’s identity and personal data.

While designing HIPAA compliant mobile apps, encrypting patients’ data is essential. Ensure that there are no privacy invasions. It is vital to encrypt stored and transferred data to avoid any misuse of the data from the device.

Step 5: Test Your App for Security

Testing your application once the designing part is complete is necessary. Testing the application after every update is also important. Make sure you test the application statistically and dynamically. Moreover, take expert consultation to ensure that your documents are up to date.

Step 6: Maintain your application

Maintaining your application is a constant process. It helps to keep your application safe from unwanted invasions. To secure your app, you need to update the security checks to ensure the highest levels of privacy. Once you have created a HIPAA compliant software application, maintaining the application regularly is necessary; otherwise, anyone can access sensitive information.

All About Signing A Business Associate Agreement

A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a legal contract between a covered entity and a business associate that ensures the business associate will appropriately safeguard protected health information (PHI).

Critical BAA Components

Every BAA must include specific provisions that define the permitted uses and disclosures of PHI, require the business associate to implement appropriate safeguards, mandate reporting of security incidents and breaches, and establish procedures for returning or destroying PHI when the relationship ends. The agreement must also include provisions for subcontractors who may have access to PHI, ensuring that the same level of protection extends throughout the entire service delivery chain.

Technology Vendor BAA Requirements

When selecting technology vendors for HIPAA-compliant application development, organizations must ensure that all vendors who may have access to PHI are willing and able to sign comprehensive BAAs. This includes cloud hosting providers, software development partners (if they handle PHI), data analytics companies, and any third-party service providers involved in the application lifecycle. The absence of a properly executed BAA with any vendor who handles PHI constitutes a HIPAA violation regardless of other security measures in place.

How Much Does A HIPAA Compliant App Development Cost?

The average cost of a fully featured HIPAA compliant software application ranges from $100,000-$250,000, depending on the complexity. It covers the creation and development of the entire system encompassing physical and technical security guidelines.

Typically, the cost of a HIPAA compliant mobile app depends on the following features:

• Type of organization
• Size of the business
• Organization’s culture
• Geographic location
• Total number of business associates

Future Proofing and Emerging Technologies

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Compliance

As healthcare organizations increasingly adopt AI and ML technologies for clinical decision support, predictive analytics, and automated diagnosis, new compliance challenges emerge. AI systems that process PHI must implement explainable AI principles to ensure that automated decisions can be audited and validated. Training data must be properly de-identified or used under appropriate authorization, and AI models must be regularly tested for bias and accuracy.

Internet of Things (IoT) and Wearable Device Integration

The proliferation of IoT devices and wearable health monitors creates new data collection and transmission pathways that must be secured under HIPAA requirements. Organizations must implement device authentication, secure communication protocols, and comprehensive data governance policies that address the unique challenges of distributed, always connected health monitoring systems.

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies

Blockchain technology offers potential benefits for healthcare data integrity and interoperability, but implementation must carefully consider HIPAA requirements for data modification and deletion. The immutable nature of blockchain records conflicts with HIPAA’s requirement for data correction and deletion, requiring innovative technical solutions and careful legal analysis.

The Bottom Line

Medical data is sensitive; thus, any breach or discrepancy can have significantly costly and inconvenient repercussions for patients, software suppliers, and medical institutions.

HIPAA compliant application development ensures that developers do not violate any industry rules leading to data privacy concerns. While developing the healthcare software at Arkenea, My Breast Cancer Journey, we assisted in building the app’s in-messaging feature, the feature to share documents and images.

Most importantly, we ensured that all features were HIPAA compliant to warranty the safety of PHI. Get started building your app today with the help of our professionals!

Disclaimer: To fully understand HIPAA compliance for your app, consult a healthcare attorney.

The post HIPAA-Compliant Mobile App Development (2026 Handbook) appeared first on .

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules and regulations ensure that ePHI (Protected Health Information) is safe and secure from potential hackers. These regulations mandate the BA (Business Associates) and CE (Covered Entities) to maintain the privacy and security of ePHI.

To comply with HIPAA regulations, CE and BA must adhere to certain requirements, and audit trail is one of them. HIPAA audit trails ensure that health information is tracked and monitored to maintain data security. The tracking system immediately alerts the authorities if there’s a data breach.

Learn about the nitty-gritty about HIPAA logging requirements in this article, which will help you to get started on your audit trails.

HIPAA Audit Trails and Logging Requirements: An Overview

Healthcare systems process thousands of activities each day ranging from user access to payments. These activities are recorded as audit logs and they are crucial for administrators because the logs show how and when events have occurred.

For a healthcare organization, HIPAA audit trails and logs can:

1. Record details such as timestamps, username, and which patient data is accessed.
2. Capture login, logout, and access to ePHI.
3. Alert admins in case of security violations or unauthorized access.
4. To demonstrate the organization’s compliance with HIPAA during audits.

HHS defines audit logs and audit trails as follows:

“According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), audit logs are records of events based on applications, users, and systems, and audit trails involve audit logs of applications, users, and systems. Audit trails’ main purpose is to maintain a record of system activity by application processes and by user activity within systems and applications.”

Furthermore, audit logs are stored securely, in a tamper-proof location. Healthcare organizations are required to analyze and review log data periodically to check compliance and improve cybersecurity.

More: HIPAA-compliant web hosting servers

Benefits of HIPAA Audit Trails

Here are the three key benefits of implementing HIPAA audit trails and log requirements:

1. Forensic Analysis

According to an article published by Investopedia, ‘A forensic audit evaluates and examines an organization’s financial records to derive evidence to be used in the court of law. A forensic audit is conducted to prosecute a party for embezzlement, fraud, and other financial crimes.’

A HIPAA audit trail offers critical information on the nature of the security incident and the parties involved. By analyzing the logs, healthcare organizations can identify what went wrong and devise a solution for it.

2. Identify Security Defects and Incidences

HIPAA audit trails and log requirements allow healthcare organizations to detect security incidences beforehand. These incidences may include unauthorized access to ePHI, data breaches, system malfunction, or financial scam.

Continuous monitoring of audit trails and logs can help organizations to spot potential anomalies and respond swiftly, thereby mitigating damage and safeguarding ePHI.

3. Improve Operational Efficiency

With HIPAA audit trails and logs, organizations can improve operational efficiency as well. A well-structured audit trail helps medical and admin staff to comprehend their roles and the limits to access ePHI.

Moreover, system monitoring, regular risk assessments, and audit controls contributes to informed-decision making and risk management, thus streamlining healthcare workflows.

HIPAA Audit Trail Requirements

The CE and BA must maintain audit trails and audit logs, however the Security Rule doesn’t clarify which information needs to be tracked. With security and privacy of ePHI in mind, organizations can monitor the integrity and use of systems that transmit and store ePHI.

The three components of HIPAA audit trail requirements are: system, user, and application.

1. System Audit Trail Requirements

A system audit trail encompasses audit logs of time-stamps, logging credentials, and access attempts. The audit trail monitors the IP address, devices used for login, and location of the devices. Tracking these activities allow organizations to determine which actions are violating HIPAA regulations.

2. User Audit Trail Requirements

There’s an audit log for every user accessing the ePHI. User audit trail requirements includes information on login, users, logoff, password updates, and authentication attempts. Review of user audit logs can alert the organizations about breaches. It can also point out about a suspicious login activity, indicating that credentials have been stolen.

3. Application Audit Trail Requirements

Application audit trails track and log user activities in the application. This encompasses application files opened and closed, and reading, creating, deleting, and editing of application records associated with protected health information.

HIPAA Logging Requirements

The healthcare organizations are required to track the following requirements as part of the HIPAA audit log:

1. Anti-malware logs
2. Firewall logs
3. Logins for operating systems
4. File access
5. Access level for every user
6. Addition of new users
7. Changes made to databases
8. User login activities

For How Long to Retain HIPAA Logs?

According to the HIPAA Journal, ‘The HIPAA retention requirements are that certain documents must be maintained for six years from the date of their creation or from the date they were in effect, whichever is later.’

HIPAA classifies retention for two types of documents – HIPAA medical records retention and HIPAA retention for other documents.

The Privacy Rule doesn’t state for how long the medical records should be retained because each state has its own laws on medical records retention. So, BA and CE are bound by the state laws on how long the medical records must be retained.

There are requirements for how long other HIPPA documents must be retained. These requirements are stated in 45 CFR 164.530 and 45 CFR 164.316. Both of these rules state that CE and BA must document procedures and policies implemented to comply with HIPAA. Both the rules stipulate that the documents must be retained for the minimum period of six years from the date it was created or when it was last in effect. HIPAA audit trails and logs fall under the other document category, hence it should be retained for six years.

Getting Started with HIPAA Audit Trails

New to HIPAA audit trails, here’s how you can do it:

1. Select the Technology: Select the technology for which you want to start audit trails and logs. For instance, in the case of EHR software ensure that it supports the essential audit trail functions as per the HIPAA regulations.
2. Staff Training: Educate the staff on HIPAA audit trail requirements mentioned in the Security Rule. Provide hands-on training experience for accessing and checking audit trail data. Explain about the best practices for maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of ePHI.
3. Continuously Monitor and Review the System: Implementing HIPAA audit trails is not a one-time task, it requires continuous reviewing and monitoring, to ascertain compliance. So, conduct regular audits to detect anomalies that may trigger data breach. Plus, conduct incident responsive exercises to test the organization’s capability to respond to security breaches.
4. Connect With an Expert: Finding it hard to manage HIPAA audit trails? Just connect with a healthcare software development company who will help to conduct audits seamlessly.

Arkenea, a custom healthcare software development company, delivers HIPAA-compliant software solutions for your organizations. Connect with us for a consultation call.

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Ensuring compliance to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations is crucial when developing a healthcare website.

Follow along our guide to developing a HIPAA compliant website as we, at Arkenea, have over 13 years of experience in developing HIPAA-compliant healthcare websites.

A Quick Overview of HIPAA

In 1996, former president Bill Clinton created and signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to protect sensitive patient data. Today, this U.S. legislation offers data privacy to secure patients’ medical information.

HIPAA includes the following five titles:

• Title I- Protects health insurance coverage
• Title II- Directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Title III- Relates to tax-related provisions
• Title IV- Further form of health insurance
• Title V- Includes conditions associated with company-owned insurance

HIPAA Privacy Rules

The Privacy Rules guidelines address covered entities’ exchange and safety of public health information. It comprises stringent guidelines for individuals’ rights to handle public health information.

The Privacy Rules allow you to strike the perfect balance between protecting patients’ privacy and enabling the use of information.

The Covered Entities of HIPAA

Organizations that need to follow and comply with HIPAA laws are as follows:

1.    Doctors and healthcare providers

Irrespective of the size of the institute, any healthcare facility that deals or transmits health-related data, including claims, benefit eligibility criteria inquiries, referral plans, and authorization requests.

2.    Health Insurance Companies

Any entity that offers or pays for healthcare plans, including health, dental, vision, and medication insurers, HMOs, Medicare, Medicaid, and other supplement insurance agents, sponsored long-term caregivers, employer-based healthcare group plans, government or church-sponsored healthcare plans.

3.    Business Associates

Any person or company that provides individually identifiable health-related information to other covered entities for performing healthcare activities. These also include billing, claim requests, data review, and analysis for research purposes.

4.    Healthcare Clearinghouses

The liaisons between healthcare providers, insurance companies, and business associates but deal with processing nonstandard patient data.

Top Benefits of HIPAA Compliant Websites

Many organizations are unable to meet HIPAA compliance requirements. However, it is mandatory for businesses and poses the following benefits:

• Greater control over medical records
• Ability to make informed choices by leveraging protected health information
• HIPAA ensures boundaries on the use and release of medical records
• HIPAA holds violators accountable for action

Here we discuss the benefits of HIPAA compliant website in detail:

1. Protects Against PHI Loss

One of the most significant ways that HIPAA benefits you and your organization is by serving against Public Health Information loss. PHI loss is a severe offense and occurs whenever you put your patients and confidential data at risk.

Healthcare organizations often interact with personal and confidential health information countless times. Each time you come across public health information, you face an opportunity to lose or protect patient data.

HIPAA provides you a guaranteed methodology to ensure your staff members understand how to secure and protect patients’ PHI. Overall, HIPAA protects you and your employees against PHI lawsuits, given that you comply with its guidelines.

2. Boosts Brand Trust and Loyalty

Being a HIPAA compliant organization helps increase brand trust and customer loyalty. Because patients and potential clients gain peace of mind, you’ll protect their sensitive data appropriately.

When you adhere to HIPAA guidelines, you ensure the confidentiality and integrity of public health information.

Another benefit of HIPAA compliance is that it increases patient loyalty. When patients or clients trust your organization, they will likely continue doing business.

3. Reduces Medical Errors in Busy Systems

HIPAA encourages healthcare providers and patients to work together to build medical files. As a result, it helps reduce discrepancy and human errors in patients’ health data.

It helps enhance the quality of patient care by enabling medical practitioners to have confidence in the accuracy of data.

Moreover, electronic health records make it easy for nurses and healthcare providers to access patients’ health data, learn family history, and make updates. Leveraging these factors improves operational efficiency and streamlines workflow.

4. Enhances Cyber security

Another benefit of HIPAA-compliant websites is keeping data systems, software, and networks up-to-date and secured.

Often medical providers fail to keep their data systems updated, and some don’t even collect them in one place. Fortunately, advanced systems automatically reduce manual errors, collate data on one platform, and ensure easy tracking.

But these systems also increase the risk of malicious software and security breaches that can potentially compromise PHI. Without HIPAA, many healthcare websites and apps would likely take cybersecurity measures lightly.

5. Increases Awareness of Patient’s Well-Being

For healthcare providers, a patient’s well-being is everything. Despite this, many organizations fail to understand how securing sensitive data contributes to a patient’s well-being.

HIPAA compliant websites offer staff members the perfect opportunity to handle patient information properly. It enables them to meet their clients’ needs better.

Plus, with HIPAA training comes the necessity to equip your staff with state-of-the-art to guard patients’ PHI effectively.

What To Be Careful of When Developing A HIPAA-Compliant Website

Although HIPAA has numerous benefits, there are a few cons to it. Let us go through some of the disadvantages of a HIPAA-compliant system.

1. Requires more staff

Companies that follow HIPAA set rules may require more staff to ensure that the organization abides by the rules set. Larger companies need a dedicated team to monitor security systems. More staff means additional costs, which may increase patients’ medical bills.

2. Does not require patients’ consent for Payment

HIPAA rules do not direct hospitals, agencies, doctors to take patients’ consent before charging them for the treatment. Therefore, companies do not ask the patient before submitting a claim to their insurance company. It takes away their right to choose to self-pay or decide what claims they wish to submit to their insurance company.

3. Shares Information with Outsiders

Hospitals are in contact with other services and departments when it comes to treating a patient. Therefore, sharing information with billing or other departments is a normal process. Hospitals do not ask patients if they are comfortable sharing their data with other departments, so they do not have other options.

Although hospitals share information using a secured system, there is always a chance of violation. If any breach occurs, patients cannot sue or fight against them. Unfortunately, it leaves them with no hope of fighting it legally.

How to Create a HIPAA Compliant Website

Here’s a comprehensive guide to creating a HIPAA compliant website:

Does Your Website Need to be HIPAA Compliant?

The first step to creating a HIPAA compliant website is identifying whether your website should be HIPAA compliant. Here are several questions you can ask yourself to determine this:

• Are you transmitting public health information via your website?
• Are you collecting patients’ confidential data on your website?
• Do you want to store or exchange PHI through your server?

If these questions are yes, you need to ensure your website is HIPAA compliant.

When Does Your Website Need To be HIPAA Compliant

If your website deals with collecting, storing, and/or transmitting PHI (Protected Health Information), you need to ensure HIPAA compliance. So what does protected health information constitute?

Any personally identifiable medical or financial information related to health services falls under PHI. This includes,

• Identifiable demographic or genetic information related to health
• Information relating to the physical or mental condition of an individual
• Payment or financial information related to healthcare

Protected health information may be collected through online web forms, patient portals, live chats and telemedicine consultations, EHRs and EMRs, and even patient reviews and testimonials on your website.

Stringent measures must therefore be taken to ensure safety of any data that you are collecting, transmitting or storing through your website that falls under PHI.

Related: How To Develop FDA Compliant Custom Software

The Checklist to Creating a HIPAA Compliant Website

The exact checklist for developing a HIPAA compliant website vary on the basis of the company’s unique requirements. Experts in healthcare website development such as Arkenea can help you create a custom checklist based on your requirements. A personalized HIPAA compliance checklist can make it easier for your organization to develop a solid game plan when undertaking website development and maintenance while ensuring that the norms set under the HIPAA privacy, security and omnibus rules are met.

However, here are the general guidelines your developers will need to follow to creating a website compliant with HIPAA:

• Investing and implementing an SSL certificate
• Ensuring web forms and contact forms are encrypted and secure
• Sending emails containing public health information via encrypted and secure servers
• Partnering with HIPAA compliant web hosting companies and using HIPAA compliant web servers
• Leveraging processes that help protect PHI when in collecting, storing or transmitting PHI
• Ensuring only authorized healthcare providers, staff members, and patients can access public health information
• Establishing fool-proof processes to delete and restore PHI

The ‘How-To’ of Creating a HIPAA Compliant Website

HIPAA compliant website addresses the following features:

• Privacy Rule
• Security Rule
• HIPAA-Compliant Website Platform
• Restricted access
• Change passwords regularly
• Data breach protocol
• Managed Firewall

Understanding the Privacy Rule

The Privacy Rule is the building block of HIPAA website compliance and applies to medical practitioners, plans, and organizations. Not just this, but third-party providers and business associates also have to follow Privacy Rules.

According to the Privacy Rule, healthcare providers must protect confidential patient data. It also extends patients the right to access, make changes, and ask questions about their medical history.

Learning the Security Rule

The Security Rule implements the Privacy Rule and offers national standards to secure EHR. It includes producing, receiving, sending, or storing information.

HIPAA-Compliant Website Platform

To ensure that your website follows HIPAA rules, you must use a compliant platform. It is essential to think about how people will use your website to create a secure environment. The different ways of using your website will help you design the web page accordingly. The main concern revolves around ePHI-if your company creates, receives, shares, or maintains it.

If you have gathered information using different forums, it is vital to ensure that the shared data is fully secure and follows HIPAA rules. Your site must protect all information against unauthorized access and data breach attempts.

Restricted access

Concisely, restricted access means that only authorized people can access the information. It means that specific users or users can access the data. Similarly, authorized people can alter the data on your site. It is critical as any change in your website information may break HIPAA rules. That is why; people who have the authority to access data need to be careful while making any changes.

Change passwords regularly

HIPAA compliant websites must change passwords frequently to maintain security. It lessens the chances of unauthorized access and protects your data. Changing passwords is a great idea to safeguard information. However, it is a law when it comes to HIPAA.

Companies must change their security passwords to keep the data protected. HIPPA considers companies to be breaking the rules if they fail to update their passwords regularly.

Data breach protocol

Even if you have designed the most secure website, you still need data breach protocol. Establishing an emergency plan to cater to a situation where an unauthorized person tries to access the information is necessary. It helps you to neutralize the breach and provides you an opportunity to show the users that you have a backup plan.

Plan and practice in case you experience such a situation.

Managed Firewalls

Firewalls protect your data. A strong managed firewall includes log monitoring, routine device checks, powerful security response, and network control. The system must consist of redundancy, load balancing through a secondary firewall, monitoring, and reporting.

How To Make Sure That Your Website is HIPAA Compliant

Ensuring that your website stays compliant to the HIPAA privacy and security rule requires the necessary steps be taken and requisite technical, physical and administrative safeguards are in place to ensure the PHI is safe from malicious attacks data vulnerabilities.

1. Get an SSL certificate for your healthcare website

The first step that needs to be taken is adding the first layer of security to your website through an SSL. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a networking protocol designed for securing connections between web clients and web servers over the internet.

Having an SSL certificate secures the transmissions from the user’s computers to the server by encrypting them and thus rendering them unreadable to the third parties.

In case of a non-SSL website, (with http url) every entity between the user and the server can see the data that passes through, including the sensitive health or patient information.

Apart from being compliant to the HIPAA norms, a website with https protocol is deemed more trustworthy by the visitors as well as search engine algorithms making it rank higher in the search engine result pages (SERP) as well.

Related Read:

• Complete Guide To Building HIPAA Compliant Health Apps

2. Secure data collection

Any data you collect from the visitors have to be done through HIPAA compliant web forms. This ensures that any PHI you collect will be securely captured without the risk of being breached or falling into the wrong hands.

Web forms may include contact forms asking about symptoms, medications or other health related information.

Make sure that any forms that ask for PHI to be entered on your website are encrypted forms. This allows you to keep data more secure. Encrypted web-forms will guard any data entered into them so that they can only be accessed by entering a key.

Like any security safeguards, there are different levels of protection depending on the type of encryption in use. End-to-end encryption is the most secure and should be your preferred choice.

3. Ensure complete data encryption

While SSL protection deals with user and server encryption, you also need to encrypt any data you store. Encryption of all data during transmission is mandatory to make sure people can’t read it if it’s intercepted.

HIPAA has set its own standards for encrypting data that is both “at rest” and “in motion”. Data access should be restricted to the administrators and core team members. Access settings need to be configured to ensure that data leaks and breaches are prevented.

4. Secure data storage

Whether the data you collect is stored on physical servers or you choose to cloud host the data, adequate security measures need to be in place. Encryption of the stored data is the norm when dealing with PHI.

Choosing HIPAA compliant hosting when storing your data on the cloud makes your job easier. Since they are already well versed with HIPAA regulations, compliance is built into the system rather than remaining an afterthought.

The multi-tiered pricing plans and robust support offered by them makes it easier for you to choose the cloud server that best meets your requirements.

5. Enter into business associate agreements

Under HIPAA, both health care providers and health care vendors who encounter PHI are mandated to be HIPAA compliant. Providers are called “covered entities” under HIPAA, and vendors are considered “business associates.”

A business associate contract is an agreement between an organization and its “business associate” that has access to PHI collected by the organization. The contract requires that business partners follow HIPAA guidelines to keep PHI secure.

6. Regular data backups

All data collected by your website needs to be backed up regularly to avoid complete data loss. The backups can be done over a local server that has been secured with end-to-end encryption or through a secure cloud server that is HIPAA compliant.

All the backed-up data needs to be encrypted and the access restricted to one designated user. Any flaw in data storage and backup protocols may lead to an eventual HIPAA breach and find you guilty of not adhering to HIPAA regulations.

7. Removal of information from the database

HIPAA mandates that all the data collected or stored by your business should be deleted when it is no longer of any business relevance.

You need to have protocols in place for ensuring deletion of data stored on the server and website database to be compliant with HIPAA norms.

Permanent deletion of data from the server implies that you cannot have the opportunity to recover it. Once someone leaves the company, their data has to go too.

While having a HIPAA compliant website may seem like a resource intensive activity, some which require high levels of technical know-how, the good news is that you don’t have to undertake all these tasks by yourself. Nor is it necessary to partner with multiple vendors for each step when developing HIPAA compliant solution. Experienced software partners like Arkenea can make the journey streamlined for you while making sure your website remains compliant to HIPAA norms.

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Factors such as implementing robust security measures, conducting thorough risk assessments, and ensuring ongoing compliance can influence the overall budget. This article explores the various elements that contribute to the cost of developing a HIPAA-compliant app, providing insights to help healthcare organizations plan effectively and allocate resources appropriately.

As per a report, till May 2022, around 298,834 privacy rule complaints were received by the HHS, hence in order to decrease privacy breaches in the healthcare industry, HIPAA compliant app is crucial.

Average HIPAA Compliant Costs

The primary goal of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is to provide continuous health insurance coverage for individuals transitioning between jobs or experiencing employment loss. In addition to protecting coverage, HIPAA aims to reduce the overall cost of healthcare and minimize administrative inefficiencies by standardizing electronic healthcare transactions, such as claims processing, eligibility verification, and billing.

It also plays a critical role in establishing national standards for safeguarding the privacy and security of patients’ protected health information (PHI), particularly as the healthcare industry adopts digital systems for storing and exchanging medical records. HIPAA compliance is now a foundational element of any healthcare organization’s operations, especially those leveraging digital tools and telehealth platforms.

After releasing the HIPAA Final Rule in 2013 by HHS, an estimated cost for developing a HIPAA compliant application are (per organization):

1. Updated notice of privacy practices: $80
2. Breach notification requirement updates: $763
3. Business associates updates: $84
4. Security rule compliance: $113
5. Grand total per organization: $1,040

In this cost estimates, the complexities of Security Rule aren’t considered; when the Security Rule was added back in 2013, it encompassed 75 new requirements and 254 points that need to be adhered to.

Average HIPAA expenses for a small covered entity are:

1. Management plan and risk analysis: $2,000
2. Policy and training development: $1,000 – $2,000
3. Remediation: $1,000 – $8,000

For medium and large covered entity, average HIPAA costs are:

1. Management plan and risk analysis: $20,000 +
2. Onsite audit: $40,000 +
3. Vulnerability scans: $800
4. Remediation: Based on where an entity stands in terms of security and compliance.
5. Policy development and training: $5,000 +

Aspects Influencing HIPAA Compliance Costs

1. Privacy Incorporation Expenses influence HIPAA compliance costs

Anticipated costs differ amongst organizations, based on the size, computer system used, covered entities (CE) involved, business associates involved, and more.

Under privacy rule, one of the debated topics is whether this rule allows covered entities to charge individuals who request for a copy of their PHI records.

The covered entities are permitted to charge certain amount based on the expenses involved with transferring the PHI copy to the individual. These expenses consist of and not limited to postage, copy supplies, and labor cost. Covered entities can charge for clerical preparation of PHI summary and explanation.

CE can get the agreement of cost before preparing explanation or summary of PHI. Furthermore, HIPAA doesn’t allow covered entities to charge for the time required to supervise individual during PHI review.

One of the requirements of HIPAA is to appoint a person responsible for assuring compliance under the privacy rule.

Healthcare organizations require certain amount to appoint a person for this role, and in case of a tight budget, the existing health information management (HIM) can take up the responsibility.

2. Security Implementation Expenses impact HIPAA compliance cost

There are numerous factors that are within budget for incorporating security measures for PHI. The risks detected during security risk analysis along with security measures that are in place helps to scrutinize money spent on security rule compliance.

One of the positive factors of security rule is its flexibility in terms of costs, the covered entities have flexibility as per situations.

Security best practices that require money or none at all are –

1. Applying critical patches
2. Sending periodic security alerts
3. Turning on logging functions that are created in existing operating systems and applications.
4. Usage of strong passwords

While outsourcing HIPAA to system integrators, consultants, or accounting firms, then expect a wide range of hourly rates. Estimated costs varies as per current location and state of the economy.

While working with experienced healthcare mobile app developers, app deployment and maintenance costs go hand in hand. However, in silo, the maintenance costs are considered after implementing security rule requirements, and these costs deliver secure information services that meet customer needs and adhere to the security rule.

Furthermore, HIPAA mandates appointment of a privacy officer for assuring compliance of the security rule, and salaries for this position differs based on needs and the size of covered entities.

Smaller covered entities can’t afford to hire a security officer, hence they can opt for an office manager role that is responsible for both security and privacy compliance. Large covered entities such as health plans and hospitals would want to recruit a security officer that focuses only on security compliance.

3. Additional Variables that influence HIPAA compliance costs

The cost of HIPAA compliance differs based on the organization, and additional variables that impact the cost of compliance are as follows:

1. Size of the organization: The cost of compliance is directly proportional to the size of the organization. The bigger the organization, the larger the staff, and more PHI and PHI encompassing devices, that adds on to the cost of HIPAA compliance.
2. Type of organization: Risk levels and quantity of PHI safeguarded depends on the type of organization. Types of organization that need to comply with HIPAA are hospitals, business associates, medical centers, health information exchange companies, healthcare clearing houses, and healthcare providers.
3. Culture of organization: Organizations with a culture of compliance have lower cost of remediation, for instance if management fails to invest amount in data security or cybersecurity program, then the compliance cost augments as there are other areas to catchup on.
4. Dedicated HIPAA team: A HIPAA team helps to assess how far an organization is to close the HIPAA gap. This team is responsible for ensuring that staff adheres to HIPAA policies, training sessions, and overseeing the security measures for protecting PHI and other devices.

Cost of Ignoring HIPAA Compliance and Resultant Fines for Breach

Building a healthcare app by ignoring regulatory requirements can be a major blow to budget planned. Here is an average amount to be paid for fines, data breaches, and penalties –

1. FTC fines: $16,000 per violation
2. HHS fines: $1.5 million per violation per year
3. Class action lawsuits: $1,000 per record
4. Patient loss: 40 percent
5. State attorneys general: $150,000 – $6.8 million
6. Free credit monitoring for affected individuals: $10 – $30 per record
7. Lawyer fees: $2,000 +
8. ID theft monitoring: $10 – $30 per record
9. Breach notification costs: $1,000 +
10. Technology repairs: $2,000 +
11. Business associate changes: $5,000 +

These are numerous ways in which HIPAA can be violated, some of them are inappropriate disposal of PHI, failure to conduct risk analysis, unauthorized access to PHI, and more.

Recently, Aetna Life Insurance Company and the affiliated covered entity – Aetna, agreed to pay $1,000,000 to the OCR (Office for Civil Rights) at the HHS (Health and Human Services), and to adopt a corrective plan to settle violations of HIPAA.

Partner With an Experienced HIPAA App Developer

If you’re looking to develop a HIPAA compliant app while optimizing expenses for it, get in touch with Arkenea – 13+ years experienced healthcare app development company that specializes in developing custom healthcare applications that follow HIPAA and other compliance requirements.

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• To safeguard ePHI, understand the three rules: the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, and the Breach Notification Rule. Having a profound understanding of the HIPAA rules puts you one step ahead in the healthcare sector.
• HIPAA risk assessment ensures that ePHI is protected from threats and vulnerabilities such as fraud, data breaches, financial scams, identity thefts, etc.
• In case of security issues file a Security Rule complaint on the OCR compliant portal. If considering faxing or mailing the complaint, then send it to the appropriate OCR regional office.

Cyber security continues to be the top priority for healthcare organizations owing to the rising number of thefts and data breaches. Nearly 45 million records were exposed or stolen in 2021. Stolen data is the leading cause of identity theft and credit card fraud. So, to safeguard ePHI (Protected Health Information) from cyber attacks, healthcare organizations and medical software development companies are imposing strict HIPAA compliance regulations.

To stay on top of protecting ePHI, ensure to run through the HIPAA compliance checklist covered in this article. But, before divulging it, let’s check:

Who is this HIPAA Compliance Checklist Applicable for?

• Covered Entities (CE): These are involved in transmitting, storing, and creating ePHI, so they must follow HIPAA compliance rules. Covered entities include health insurance companies, health plans, healthcare programs by the government, healthcare providers, and healthcare clearinghouses.
• Business Associates (BA): These handle ePHI obtained from the covered entities, but don’t create medical data. CE have contracts with business associates, to ensure that they use and disclose medical data properly and also protect it. Business associates include billing and healthcare claims companies who help doctors get paid for offering their services. Companies that administer health plans and store or destroy medical records are also considered as BA. Along with this, lawyers, IT specialists, and accountants fall under BE too.

HIPAA Compliance Checklist Guide

HIPAA Checklist #1. Understand HIPAA Rules

To safeguard ePHI, comprehend the three golden rules of HIPAA compliance: The Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, and the Breach Notification Rule. Having a profound understanding of the HIPAA rules puts you one step ahead in the healthcare sector. Chances of losing data decrease significantly, along with facing penalties for not imposing these regulations.

The Security Rule establishes standards for protecting health data that are created, transmitted, and stored. Whereas, the Privacy rule maintains the confidentiality of healthcare data by imposing encryption, assuring authorized access, allowing patients to review data, etc. The administrative, technical, and physical, safeguards are included in the Security Rule.

The Breach Notification Rule requires BA and CE to provide notification of a breach involving unsecured protected health information. A risk assessment is performed upon a breach to determine the scope of the incident.

HIPAA Checklist #2. Find the Right Security Vendors

Security vendors specialize in handling compliance for those who lack the resources to carry it out themselves. Companies that offer HIPAA compliance services provide software that adheres to all regulations. These companies are trained to handle risks, and security issues, and offer a solution to counter complaint problems. Collaborating with HIPAA compliance service providers can help to maintain the privacy and security of ePHI.

HIPAA Checklist #3. Conduct HIPAA Risk Assessment

HIPAA risk assessment ensures that ePHI is protected from threats and vulnerabilities such as fraud, data breaches, financial scams, identity thefts, etc. Risk analysis identifies current threats and vulnerabilities that may impact medical data, healthcare organizations, providers, and vendors in the future.

It is the first step before implementing the Security Rule, it forms a foundation for further data protection strategies. Based on HIPAA risk assessment, the security officer assigns risk levels for each electronic data, for instance high, medium, or low levels. The entire risk analysis is documented and reviewed periodically to prevent ePHI violations.

More: HIPAA-compliant web hosting servers

HIPAA Checklist #4. Prevent Compliance Violations

Once risk assessment is conducted, establish privacy and security rules to maintain compliance, and to prevent HIPAA violations. Have technical, physical, and administrative safeguards in place. Check for data encryption while exchanging ePHI and adhere to the authorized access rules to maintain data privacy. Avoiding HIPAA compliance violations saves healthcare organizations, vendors, business associates, and covered entities tons of money. Facilities can end up paying up to $50 million for violating compliance regulations.

Organizations with the least or no compliance violations are preferred by the patients as it reassures them that their data is in safe hands, thus building a reputation for organizations in the healthcare sector.

HIPAA Checklist #5. Plan for Emergencies

Emergencies can be of any type: technical, non, technical, natural, or accidental. So, before any emergency strikes, ascertain that there’s a robust healthcare data backup and recovery process in place. Also, an emergency can include compliance violations, so have enough financial support to pay off the penalties.

Moving on, in times of emergencies it may not be possible to save all data. So, sort out the most critical data right from the beginning. During the data backup process, the critical data can be moved first, followed by the rest of the data. Also, consider saving medical data at three different locations: two copies of media, and one offsite. Recovery solutions include cloud storage and physical data centers.

HIPAA Checklist #6. Report Security Issues Immediately

In case of security issues, report it as soon as possible, so the authorities can conduct their investigation and resolve the issue quickly. File a Security Rule complaint on the OCR compliant portal. If considering faxing or mailing the complaint, then send it to the appropriate OCR regional office.

Every regional office covers a specific state and sends the complaint to the OCR Regional Manager. It is also essential to conduct a risk assignment from your end before the investigation is conducted by the authorities.

HIPAA Checklist #7. Maintain Documentation

This probably one of the key factors in the HIPAA compliance checklist. It is essential to document diligently everything related to HIPAA compliance. Log and records help to keep policies and procedures transparent. HIPAA compliance documentation includes the following:

• Policies and procedures of HIPAA
• HIPAA risk analysis
• Actions to deal with vulnerabilities
• Privacy practices
• HIPAA risk management plan
• Employee sanction policy
• List of vendors
• Contracts
• Work desk processes
• Training logs
• Breach response plan
• Business associate agreements
• Media used to store ePHI records
• Password policies
• Disaster recovery plan
• Maintenance records
• Documentation of incidents
• Authorization for disclosing ePHI
• Physical security maintenance records

HIPAA Checklist #8. Monitor and Update Compliance Policies

There’s a constant change in the policies regarding the way healthcare data should be handled. Also, policies concerning the security and privacy of ePHI face alternations due to technological advancement.

As of today, new healthcare data policies regarding the use of the cloud as storage space and the use of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT in healthcare are being made. So, healthcare organizations and vendors must consider revised rules and regulations concerning the healthcare industry. Updated policies can be put into action, to avoid violations in the future.

HIPAA Checklist #9. HIPAA Compliance Training

The last factor on the HIPAA compliance checklist is training of workforce. Both HIPAA Security Rule and Privacy Rule mention that training must be provided to the workforce. Security Rule states that all the staff has to participate in the awareness and training program. Covered Entities are required to train their workforce on policies and procedures on ePHI. Consider a training provider like TeachMeHIPAA for low cost HIPAA training for teams of all sizes.

Also, the Business Associates are trained for reporting security incidences and breaches to the Covered Entities. HIPAA compliance training increases awareness amongst the staff about the importance of the ePHI, why it needs to be protected, and ways to protect it effectively.

Get fully HIPAA-compliant healthcare software for your organization from one of the top-notch healthcare software development companies, and with over 13 years of experience: Arkenea. Our team of expert developers ensures to provide only state-of-the-art healthcare software that meets your industry standards. Connect with Arkenea to know more.

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The consequences have been significant. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was fined over $4.3 million in 2018 due to unencrypted devices containing electronic PHI (ePHI). In another landmark case, Advocate Health Care Network paid a $5.5 million settlement in 2017 after losing the records of nearly 4 million individuals in multiple data breaches. Since 2016 alone, healthcare organizations and their business associates have paid over $75 million in fines for HIPAA non-compliance, demonstrating the real financial risk of neglecting proper safeguards.

At the heart of HIPAA enforcement is the HIPAA Security Rule, a foundational component of the broader HIPAA Compliance Framework. This rule outlines the technical, physical, and administrative safeguards required to protect ePHI, particularly when developing or managing healthcare software, apps, and digital platforms. Whether you’re a covered entity or a HealthTech vendor, adhering to the Security Rule is essential not just for legal compliance, but for protecting patient trust and ensuring data integrity.

In this article, we’ll break down the HIPAA Security Rule Checklist in detail, explaining its core components, why each safeguard matters, and how to implement them effectively. If you’re developing healthcare software or managing patient data, this guide is your roadmap to staying compliant and audit-ready in an increasingly security-conscious industry.

Defining the Roles: HIPAA Security Rules

The two most important actors in the HIPAA Compliance protocols are:

1. Covered entities (CE) 

A covered entity (CE) is any person, institution, or organization involved in ePHI exchange for medical billing and insurance purposes. This includes healthcare providers, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plans.

A hospital maintaining ePHI for its employees is generally not considered a CE.

However, the hospital may provide an employee health cover (or an employee assistance program) for its employees.

This hospital is then covered under HIPAA as a ‘hybrid entity’ (HE). A breach of this data (part of the employee benefits program) is still considered a HIPAA Breach Incident and must be promptly reported. 

2. Business associates (BA) 

A business associate (BA) provides an extension service to a CE. This could be any person/institution/organization who has access to the ePHI as part of its service to CE. Typically, following associates to the CE are considered as BA:

• Accountants
• Lawyers
• IT Partners
• Cloud service providers
• Any other type of service provider with access to ePHI

CE can engage third-party BA as per their own business requirement, such as HIPAA compliant hosting. However, they must get a signed assurance that the BA understands the rules and is ready to take measures to enforce those rules.

What is covered under the HIPAA Security Rule Checklist?

HIPAA Security Rule applies to all covered entities and business associates and has many moving parts to it.

Administrative safeguards under HIPAA Security Rule

1. Security Management Process

CEs must ensure appropriate policies and procedures are in place to detect, correct, and contain security violations. They must employ the procedures of the Risk Management Framework on an ongoing basis.

The framework should also be used when implementing any new policy that uses of ePHI directly or indirectly. 

2. Workforce security and Information Access Management

CEs must also ensure which employee role requires what kind of access to a patient’s ePHI and take concrete steps to enforce access control.

This implies that ePHI must be not be accessed freely but only on need basis. It may involve regular updating of data permissions on a case-by-case basis.

3. Security Awareness and Training

All those who have access to ePHI at any time (and for any amount of time) must be trained in what rules to follow and how to follow them.

4. Assigned Security Responsibility

The responsibility of complying with HIPAA Security Rules must be assigned to a security officer. The CE must provide a secondary security officer as a backup in the absence of primary security officer.

5. Security Incident Procedures

All security incidents or breaches must be promptly and thoroughly reported. Additionally, the CE can also setup processes to prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place.

These security support systems help predict and prevent security incidents before they occur.

6. Contingency Plans

The contingency plan must include the following:

• A disaster recovery plan
• A data backup plan
• A plan to maintain normalcy (or near-normalcy) of operations in the event of a breach

The CE must also regularly update these plans to keep pace with the evolving HIPAA regulations. The standard also defines how to handle critical software applications involved in the breach.

7. Evaluation 

• What ePHI will the BA have access to during the course of the agreement
• How it will be used
• How the BA plans to destroy/return the data after the agreement ends

So, the BA also effectively becomes a CE for the purpose of the agreement.

Physical safeguards under HIPAA Security Rule

The CE must lock their server rooms and have their access controlled and audited regularly. They can also use an appropriate number of CCTV cameras to track server room usage.

The CE must also password-protect all its computers or storage devices (in all the departments) that it uses in its IT process.

Security measures should also ensure these passwords are not weak and that users update them on a monthly (or quarterly) basis.

All the access standards are equally applicable to:

• desktops and laptops inside and outside the premises. 
• all types of removable storage drives (USB drives, internal and external hard drives) used with these devices.

Technical safeguards under HIPAA Security Rule

Technical safeguards typically would be developed into your healthcare application. Your software development company should be the ones to implement these.

1. Access controls

Access to all devices and documents that store and process ePHI must be granted on a need-only basis. The CE must also regularly audit access control lists to address any discrepancies in access without delay.

2. Audit Controls

In the case of a data breach, the CE must be able to show the complete trail of the breach – including who accessed what data and when. The audit report must include enough information to prove exactly how the breach occurred.

3. Integrity

The CE must be able to prove that it fully protects all the ePHI that its facility exchanges or stores from internal as well as external threats. When required, the CE must readily provide proof of access to breached documents.

4. Secure Transmission

The CE must secure transmission of data and access to this data at the receiving site by using appropriate security protocols. When required, the CE must be able to furnish proof of transmission security levels.

5. Personal Authentication

The CE should be able to securely prove that the person accessing the information is using only his/her own credentials. What this means is that employees must not share or lose their login credentials. 

CEs must control access to ePHI through advanced authentication methods like retina scans, 2-factor authentication, or other stronger authentication methods.

How to ensure HIPAA Compliance to avoid hefty fines

HIPAA compliance goes beyond the HIPAA security rule checklist. It also includes the Privacy rules, the Omnibus Rule, the Breach Notification Rule, and the Enforcement Rule. A thorough risk assessment is a must for all healthcare apps.

Arkenea has over 13 years of experience in developing HITRUST and HIPAA compliant apps. We are a two-time award-winning healthcare software development company. This makes us uniquely positioned to apply the right technical safeguards to your websites and mobile apps. Our solution architects can also help you identify and engage with the right HIPAA compliant cloud storage for your business needs.

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With the rise in data breaches and cyber attacks, the enforcement of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant software in the healthcare industry has augmented.

As per a report, the number of breaches in the healthcare industry has doubled since the year 2014 and more than 29 million healthcare records were attacked in 2020.

Cyber attacks aren’t limited to only PHI (Protected Health Information) but have expanded to video conferencing via telehealth as well.

According to the researchers’ note published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, the relaxation of the use of apps such as FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Zoom, or Skype for telemedicine has made it easier for patients to access healthcare.

However, this has raised concerns about data protection, especially during incidences such as ‘Zoom Bombing’ in 2020.

To avoid data breaches, researchers recommend the usage of consumer video conferencing tools with encryption and configuration settings. A customized HIPAA compliant telemedicine application comes with a firewall for video conferencing.

What to Lookout For in a HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Software?

While choosing a HIPAA compliant app, here are a few features to look out for before its purchase or use.

1. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Co-browsing

Co-browsing allows patients and healthcare providers to be on the same page. With one click the providers can view and communicate with the patients’ web browsers. This allows physicians to offer personalized and live guidance through complex procedures.

Note that physicians can only view those pages that are enabled with the co-browse feature and cannot open any other tabs, hence maintaining privacy. With co-browsing, healthcare facilities provide immediate onscreen help, and sharing the web eliminates the need for verbal exchange.

Co-browse solutions provide one-way video and give physicians and patients a real-time view. Further, it also humanizes the interaction and nurtures a personal connection. A successful video interaction builds personal, private, and visual engagement. Co-browsing helps physicians to achieve engagement and improve patient experience, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Preserving healthcare is essential for safeguarding patients’ security and privacy. Here are a few data protection protocols that every healthcare facility can implement for co-browsing:

1. Connect healthcare providers to patients through secure and encrypted local services.
2. Assure that the co-browsing solution doesn’t need a JAVA code or app downloads on the user’s computer or mobile phone.
3. Ensure that co-browsing meets HIPAA Business Associates (BA) compliance for data transmission.
4. Blocks healthcare professionals from viewing anything other than the relevant window for information.
5. The co-browsing tool is configured and needs permission to see the screen.

2. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: E-Signatures

HIPAA act doesn’t define the method of signing documents, therefore signing them electronically does not affect the law. Further, a web-based, electronic, and HIPAA compliant signature tool signs documents via mouse, keyboard, or touch screen from any web-based device.

For instance, SignCenter is one such HIPAA compliant e-signature tool designed for healthcare and this addresses complex and unique security concerns. This was built to integrate smoothly with today’s business applications. SignCenter saves time by eliminating the need to jump between duplicate data entry and programs. One can manage signs in one place.

E-signatures are interoperable with EHR (Electronic Health Records) and is easier for patients to sign forms digitally at an inpatient facility or a medical office. E-signatures are equipped with several layers of authentication and security to assure the safety and privacy of data.

In addition, e-signatures consist of an electronic record that acts as a proof or audit trail of transaction. The level of authentication needed for e-signature depends on healthcare business practice. E-signature verifies the identity of the signer before accessing the document through the following methods.

1. Access code: This is the one-time password entered by the user.
2. Email address: The mail ID is compared with the one used for the e-signature invite link.
3. Phone call: Users have to call a number and enter an access code along with their mail ID.
4. Knowledge-based: Signers are asked questions such as vehicles owned or previous addresses.
5. SMS: Users have to type a one-time passcode.
6. ID verification: People have to verify their identity through government-issued photo IDs.

3. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Customer Service

A HIPAA-compliant video conferencing software must have a call center for providing customer support along with safeguarding their information. Virtual receptionists are incorporated in clinics or hospitals to answer queries ranging from test results to medication refills.

Every healthcare organization is bound to face difficulties while using video conferencing software, hence before purchasing consider these two points:

1. Support offered by the software vendor to the care team.
2. Support provided to the patients.

A HIPAA compliant call center helps to manage incoming calls during busy shifts. Also, during emergencies, prioritizing those patient services takes off the load.

HIPAA answering services ensure that calls are transferred to the right healthcare professional and urgent calls are routed directly to the concerned physician immediately.

4. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Data Encryption

E2EE (End-to-end Encryption) is the gold standard for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This level of encryption guarantees that only the device used to initiate the video call has access to the encryption key, and conversations are carried out securely.

Many popular video services such as Skype and FaceTime do not adhere to this level of encryption. Malicious users or unauthorized third parties may attempt to access the data transmitted during a video call due to a lack of data encryption.

5. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Business Associate Agreement

As per HIPAA, BAA (Business Associate Agreement) is a legally binding agreement between a Covered Entity (CE) and a Business Associate (BA) that outlines the respective obligations of each party regarding the protection of PHI.

BAA ensures that health information is protected at all times and the entities follow all the privacy and security norms of HIPAA regulations.

6. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Storage for Video Transmission

Efficient storage of video transmissions is crucial for managing vast amounts of multimedia data. Compression algorithms like H.264 and H.265 reduce file sizes, making storage more manageable. Cloud-based solutions offer scalability, while data centers and distributed systems help ensure reliability and accessibility, enabling seamless video retrieval and playback.

To get a better idea of what each platform offers, search for “security on the platform”. This will give an idea of what they do, including “where and how” their platform servers are located.

It’s important to note that the data is not backed up by the platform provider itself. Instead, it’s stored in a separate facility that’s protected by biometric sensors and security guards. While this may seem like an extreme measure, it is worth taking a few more minutes to make sure the platform’s level of security is top-notch.

7. HIPAA-compliant video conferencing must have: Keep Accidental Violations in Check

While some of the most popular video conferencing tools, such as Zoom, are HIPAA-compliant, the practice’s patient care team may still inadvertently violate the rules by sending a meeting invitation to a patient or inadvertently storing patient information in the practice’s Zoom account.

Hiring a video vendor who is well-versed in HIPAA compliance can help avoid unintentional HIPAA compliance violations.

HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing APIs

API (Application Programming Interface) integrates various technical tools to augment video conferencing. For telehealth video conferencing apps such as Skype or Zoom aren’t suitable due to privacy and security concerns. Hence, using a video conferencing API for healthcare that’s HIPAA compliant is beneficial for data security.

Here are the top three HIPAA compliant video conferencing APIs that every healthcare facility can consider for safe virtual care.

1. Sendbird

Sendbird is considered a high-quality video calling API that is also HIPAA compliant. This is a one-to-one video conferencing API that is used by telehealth healthcare service providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and health communities. Sendbird assures the safe transfer of PHI between providers and patients.

Further, Sendbird’s video chat app SDK (Software Development Kit) helps to develop human connections within the application, thus building a doctor-to-patient bond. This API allows healthcare facilities to connect in their preferred method. iOS video chat SDK and Android allow access to schedule chats to expand customers by connecting with them via on-camera or one-to-one chats.

Sendbird provides a customized and secure platform for a satisfactory customer experience. Apart from the healthcare industry, Sendbird API has left its mark in e-commerce, gaming, and other businesses as well.

2. Twilio

Twilio provides a range of services that are HIPAA compliant such as –

1. Video recording
2. Data track
3. Media storage
4. Recording compositions
5. Network traversal service

Further, Twilio ensures encrypted communication between patients and healthcare professionals for data privacy and safety. For a HIPAA compliant application, HTTPS is an ideal choice to configure requests from Twilio. Signed requests by Twilio API assure security and the user has to verify the signature for further processing. This feature prevents requests from malicious third-party users that lead to cyberattacks.

HIPAA compliant Twilio is protected by a password for smooth workflow. Also, the public key client validation feature of Twilio secures interactions between the user and physician. This feature lets both people know that the services aren’t tampered with.

3. Agora

Agora is a perfect API tool because it’s scalable and easy to use. It also provides real-time video and audio updates, which is beneficial for the healthcare sector during life-and-death situations.

Further, disrupted network connections hampers real-time updates, and this results in loss or corruption of information. Hence, with Agora’s software-defined real-time network, this problem is easily solved. The software is designed to render fast and reliable connectivity with low latency.

NOVA – a feature of Agora that provides broadband, narrowband, and ultra-high frequencies. It also switches between various modes such as high-quality, adaptable, super high frequency, and low energy consumption. These features are helpful for physicians to explain complex healthcare problems efficiently, thus augmenting virtual patient experience and outcome.

4. Zoom

Zoom API is the first preference by the developers to access resources from the Zoom application. Apps can write and read the resources and mimic a few of the popular Zoom features available on the Zoom Web Portal. These features include starting a new meeting, viewing dashboards and reports, and adding, creating, and removing users.

Further, Zoom’s integration with Epic, an EHR system allows healthcare facilities to launch Zoom from a video visit workflow. Zoom is a HIPAA compliant application and all video conferencing is encrypted with an AES-256 bit encryption. This API is protected by a password to maintain data privacy and safety of patients.

On Zoom healthcare providers and patients can annotate, disable recordings, and do much more for security purposes. During a Zoom session, separate accounts are automatically generated by patients and healthcare professionals use information from the records. Patient accounts are automatically deleted post-session completion.

So, this was all about HIPAA compliant video conferencing that healthcare facilities, providers, and patients need to know while using it. HIPAA acts in video conferencing software making it suitable for the healthcare industry and its integration into telemedicine apps for the safe exchange of medical information.

5. Google Meet

Google Meet can be a powerful HIPAA compliant video conferencing solution. It can be made HIPAA compliant by signing a BAA with Google, assuring that the entity is in administrator mode when joining the call, or making the calendar private.

Features of Google Meet include:

1. Recording: Healthcare practitioners can maintain an audit trail of the conversations wherever authorized to do so while ensuring HIPAA compliance.
2. Live Captions: Video conferencing becomes more inclusive with the addition of speech recognition technology. This is quite useful for deaf patients.
3. Private Consultations: With Google Meet, patients can join appointments from a private conference room for enhanced privacy.

6. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a video conferencing tool that offers healthcare providers everything that they need to stay connected with their patients. It is a HIPAA compliant tool with AES 256 encryption, a Business Associate Agreement, and security features such as meeting locks, passwords, and disabled recordings.

Features of GoToMeeting include:

1. No Time Limits: Providers can spend as much time as possible with patients without any meeting time limits.
2. Chat Messaging: This HIPAA complaint messaging tool allows providers and patients to talk with each other in confidence.
3. Screen Sharing: Patients and healthcare providers can share their documents to discuss medical files, prescriptions, and treatment options in a better way.
4. HD Videos: One of the many perks of having a GoToMeeting video conferencing tool.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, ensuring HIPAA-compliant video conferencing is essential for safeguarding sensitive healthcare information during remote consultations.

Protecting patient privacy and data security is non-negotiable. To achieve this, healthcare providers should invest in trusted HIPAA-compliant video conferencing solutions.

Take action today to enhance patient trust and meet regulatory requirements. Connect with Arkenea, a leading custom healthcare software development company to help you develop a custom healthcare software solution for your organization, that integrates with HIPAA-compliant video conferencing softwares.

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• The ONC in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights has developed a Security Risk Assessment tool. This tool is developed to help healthcare providers carry out security risk assessments as mandated by the HIPAA Security Rule.
• To measure the scope of the HIPAA risk assessment, take into account all the protected health information in every format. Review all documents such as policies, and vulnerability and threat reports.
• A key aspect of the HIPAA risk assessment template is to check the impact of potential threats and vulnerabilities on healthcare organizations and facilities. Threats include cyber attacks, data breaches, fraud, and financial losses.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance mandates all covered entities and business associates to maintain the security and privacy of ePHI (Protected Health Information). Its stringent regulations protect healthcare data from fraud, data breaches, and ransomware attacks. The number to which has reached 5150 in the last decade.

To assure that healthcare data is protected at all times by covered entities (CE) and business associates (BA), a HIPAA risk assessment is conducted by a HIPAA compliance officer or a security officer. The following HIPAA risk assessment template is a guide for vendors, BA, and CE on how to conduct risk analysis and all the essential aspects needed for it.

A Brief on HIPAA Risk Assessment

HIPAA risk assessment helps healthcare organizations and vendors to identify threats, analyze current security measures, and take essential steps to eliminate potential threats, therefore making this HIPAA risk assessment template absolutely crucial. The OCR (Office for Civil Rights) issues guidelines on the provisions of the HIPAA Security Rule. These guidelines help organizations to implement physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect ePHI. So, the Security Rule mandates organizations to examine vulnerabilities and risks, and implement appropriate security measures to protect data from threats.

HIPAA risk assessment is the first step in incorporating the Security Rule. Implementation specifications for HIPAA risk analysis are either required or addressable; meaning:

• Required specifications are documents and policies that every covered entity and business associate must have in place.
• Addressable implementation specifications offer flexibility to CE and BA concerning compliance and security rules. They can decide whether a security measure is reasonable and appropriate to apply.

Security Risk Assessment Tool

According to healthit.gov, the ONC (National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has developed an SRA (Security Risk Assessment) tool. This tool is made to help healthcare providers carry out security risk assessments as mandated by the HIPAA Security Rule and the CMS Electronic Health Records Incentive Program.

The target audience for the Security Risk Assessment Tool are small and medium scale providers, and may not be fit for larger healthcare facilities. The SRA is a desktop application that guides users through multiple-choice questions, help with asset and vendor management, and threat assessments. Reports can be printed and saved after the assessment is finished.

Key Terminologies for Risk Assessment

• Vulnerability: As defined by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), vulnerability is a flaw in a system security design, process, internal controls, or implementation. It directly hampers the security policy. Vulnerabilities are of two types: technical and non-technical. The former include flaws in the development of systems or incorrectly configured systems. Whereas, the latter includes non-existent policies, guidelines, or procedures.
• Threat: NIST describes threat as the potential of a person or a thing to trigger (accidentally or intentionally) a vulnerability. Threats can be grouped into human, natural, and environmental. Examples include floods, malicious software uploads, unauthorized access to ePHI, and power failures.
• Risk: NIST explains risk as a function occurred due to a given threat or a specific vulnerability, and the consequence of which impacts an organization. It is a combination of multiple factors and events (vulnerabilities and threats).

FREE HIPAA Risk Assessment and Analysis Template

To help healthcare organizations simplify their compliance journey, Arkenea offers a free HIPAA Risk Assessment Template designed specifically for covered entities and business associates handling protected health information (PHI). This template guides you through identifying potential security vulnerabilities, evaluating administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, and documenting your organization’s risk posture, all in alignment with HIPAA Security Rule requirements.

Whether you’re a healthcare provider, HealthTech startup, or medical software vendor, this HIPAA risk analysis template provides a structured, easy-to-use format to assess and address compliance gaps, making it an essential tool for HIPAA audits and proactive risk management.

1. Analyze the Scope of the HIPAA Risk Assessment

To measure the scope of the HIPAA risk assessment, take into account all the protected health information in every format. This includes electronic media such as floppy discs, hard drives, smart cards, CDs, portable electronic media, personal digital assistants, etc. Electronic media also consist of a complex network connected over multiple locations.

2. Gather Relevant Data

During data collection, healthcare organizations and vendors must be aware of where the ePHI is stored, transmitted, and maintained. CE and BA can gather relevant data from the following methods:

• Performing interviews with the Chief Information Officer, users, and Risk Management Team
• Reviewing past or existing projects and documents such as IT processes and policies, vulnerability and threat reports, classified information, and incident reports.
• Using data gathering tools and techniques as needed
• Visit sites of hospitals and clinics.

Note: All the data collected is documented for further assessment. Mention the level of sensitivity for each data type, for instance, test results (radiology, lab) are highly sensitive data, and PPE inventory is a low sensitive data.

3. Identify Threats and Vulnerabilities

The third aspect of the HIPAA risk assessment template is to identify and document all the potential threats and vulnerabilities faced by healthcare organizations and vendors. Threats can be unique to circumstances, or may be triggered or exploited by a third party. Some of the common vulnerabilities and threats for ePHI include:

• Staff misconduct
• Improper data disposal
• Unsecured devices
• Improper ePHI disclosures
• Cyberattacks

4. Check Current Security Measures

Check whether all security measures used to protect ePHI are in place. Measures may differ as per the size of a healthcare organization. For example, a small clinic will have few threats and vulnerabilities to check on as compared to a huge multi-specialty hospital. Smaller hospitals and clinics have few variables to consider, and the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of healthcare data will differ from facility to facility.

Aspects to check on can be technical and non-technical. These include:

• Access control
• Encryption
• Audit controls
• Automatic log-offs
• Policies and procedures
• Physical security measures

5. Determine the Impact of Potential Threats

Consider the impact of potential threats and vulnerabilities on healthcare organizations and facilities. Assess the length at which an organization can get affected by potential threats. CE and BA may make use of qualitative or quantitative means to determine the impact. Consider the following impacts at the beginning:

• Complete loss of health data or ePHI
• Financial losses
• Unauthorized access to healthcare data
• Loss of physical assets
• Temporary downtime of the servers

6. Determine the Level of Risk

Next on the HIPAA risk assessment template is to assign risk levels for every threat and vulnerability identified. For example, a risk scale can be measured from 0 to 10, and named as low, medium, and high level risks. HIPAA risk assessment can be conducted for instance at three different times, before software installation, after implementation of software, after a breach, and for periodic reviews.

7. Finalize the Risk Assessment Document

There’s no fixed format to document the risk assessment. But, all the threats, vulnerabilities, potential risks, and impact, has to be mentioned in the document. Also, consider security risk measures such as organization policies, the effectiveness of security measures, and regulatory requirements for implementing security rules.

8. Conduct Periodic Reviews and Updates of Risk Assessment

HIPAA risk analysis must be an ongoing process and should be conducted periodically to maintain the privacy and security of ePHI. The Security Rule doesn’t specify the number of times an update is needed, it depends on the covered entities. It can be conducted bi-annually, annually, or once in 2 years. Ideally, if any new technology or business operation is planned, then consider performing a risk assessment right away as it reduces the burden of performing it at a later date.

HIPAA risk analysis is an essential step for covered entities and business associates to safeguard ePHI. So, every healthcare software, website, application, and hardware is made HIPAA compliant. Failure to do so can result in penalties, criminal charges, and fines that can go up to millions, as per the scope of the violations.

Mandating risk analysis not only prevents penalties, but also gives reassurance to patients that their data is in safe hands, and so is their privacy.

If you’re looking to develop a HIPAA-compliant healthcare software, get in touch with Arkenea for a free consultation and quote. Arkenea is an exclusively healthcare-focused custom software development company with over 13 years of experience and two back to back award winner by GHP.

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• The HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool is built by the HHS OCR and the ONC to guide the Business Associates and the Covered Entities in conducting a proper risk assessment.
• The 3.3 version of the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool encompasses the SRA Tool Excel Workbook which includes conditional formulas and formatting to calculate and help detect risk in the same way as the SRA Tool application.
• The 3.3 version of the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool encompasses varied features such as HICP reference, file association in Windows, bug fixes, and the SRA Tool Excel Workbook.

According to the HHS OCR (Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights), the number of data breaches declined in 2020. Even though the margin was small – 11.3 percent, it was the first time there was a decline in the number of breaches.

Complying with HIPAA rules and conducting HIPAA security risk assessments are the driving forces for a decrease in breaches. With the added asset of the HIPAA security risk assessment (SRA) tool, organizations can comply better with the risk assessment requirements.

Understanding the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment

The CFR 45 164.306 outlines the HIPAA security risk assessment objectives that the Covered Entities (CE) and the Business Associates (BA) are required to follow. They are:

• The CE and BA must ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of all protected health information they create, receive, transmit, and maintain.
• Ensure compliance by the workforce.
• Protect against any predicted disclosures and use of data that are not permitted under subpart E – privacy of the individually identifiable health information.
• Safeguard healthcare data against potential threats, vulnerabilities, and hazards that may hamper the security and integrity of data.

The Security Rule allows a ‘flexible approach’ to implementing administrative, technical, and physical standards. All standards must be incorporated, unless an implementation specification is not ‘reasonable’ and an alternate measure can be incorporated.

The Security Rule also mentions that Covered Entities must check whether their BAA (Business Associate Agreements) comply with the Rule and Business Associates are to report any security incidents to the CE.

The HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool

The healthcare industry faces numerous threats daily the number of cybersecurity risks is continuously rising. Failure to complete the required HIPAA risk assessment due to its complexity and time gave rise to cyber threats. So, to make things simple for the Covered Entities and Business Associates, the ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology), in collaboration with the HHS OCR, created a downloadable HIPAA Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool to guide them through the process of risk analysis.

The SRA tool is built to help healthcare providers carry out a security risk assessment as per the HIPAA Security Rule and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The audience for the SRA tool is small and medium-sized providers, and it may not be appropriate for large organizations.

The 3.3 version of the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool encompasses varied features such as HICP (Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices) reference, file association in Windows, bug fixes, and the SRA Tool Excel Workbook. Furthermore, the risk assessment helps organizations to remain compliant with administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. It also detects areas where the organization’s ePHI could be at risk.

SRA Tool for Windows

The SRA tool for Windows walks users through the risk assessment process by using a wizard-based approach. The users are shown multiple-choice questions, vulnerability, and threat assessments, and vendor and asset management. Additional guidance and references are given on the way. Reports can be saved and printed after the risk assessment process.

Moreover, the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool can be installed on computers running 64-bit versions of MS Windows 7,8,10,11. Information is stored locally on the user’s laptop or PC, and the HHS doesn’t view, collect, store, or transmit information entered in the SRA tool.

More: HIPAA-compliant web hosting servers

SRA Tool Excel Workbook

The 3.3 version of the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool encompasses the SRA Tool Excel Workbook which includes conditional formulas and formatting to calculate and help detect risk in the same way as the SRA Tool application.

The SRA Tool Excel workbook is intended to replace the ‘paper version’ and can be a suitable option for users who don’t have access to Microsoft Windows and may need more flexibility than offered by the SRA Tool for Windows. The SRA Tool workbook can be used on any type of computer capable of handling .xlsx files.

Using HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool

The downloadable HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool guides users through the process of conducting risk analysis. The SRA tool is not mandated by the Security Rule but helps organizations to perform a thorough risk assessment. It also offers an exportable report that can be shared with the auditors.

The process of using the SRA tool is:

1. Log in by entering your name or initials, and select a place on the computer to save the SRA report after the assessment. After log-in, you’ll see an image like this:

2. Then enter details such as practice information, organization’s assets, Business Associates, and vendor information, and add any additional documents to the SRA. Refer to the images below to know what it looks like.

3. Then answer a set of multiple-choice questions, vulnerabilities faced by the organization, etc. At the end of each section, the HIPAA security risk assessment tool will show you areas of success and review. Check the image below.

4. At the end of the HIPAA risk assessment, users can get a risk score, areas of vulnerabilities, and reviews. The report can be saved for further analysis on the computer or printed.

HIPAA compliance is a mandatory requirement for healthcare organizations and medical software development companies. Failure to comply can bring with it penalties and criminal charges. It plays a pivotal role in securing the ePHI. So, to develop HIPAA-compliant healthcare software, get in touch with us at Arkenea, a custom healthcare software development company with over 13 years of industry experience.

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