How to Ensure HIPAA Compliance [Full Checklist Included]

Are you leading the development or marketing of an app or website that involves protected health information (PHI)? If you have not heard the term before, PHI involves information related to an individual’s health status, healthcare, and healthcare payments.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects said individuals and their health-related information, which you must comply with before progressing further with your product or service.

We will provide all the information needed to be HIPAA compliant and ensure you understand what this act covers. We have also created a downloadable HIPAA Compliance Checklist to help you adhere to this often stringent act.

What is HIPAA Compliance?

In 1996, the US Congress passed HIPAA, a federal law implemented to defend and secure citizens’ health information. Almost every business dealing with PHI, healthcare provider, and insurance firm was then bound to the act.

HIPAA’s primary goals include the following:

• Protecting sensitive health data: HIPAA sets national standards to protect individuals’ health and healthcare-related data.
• Maintaining information privacy: This limits businesses and organizations’ access to and sharing of PHI.
• Developing healthcare efficiency: HIPAA fosters the private electronic sharing of health data.

Who Must Comply With HIPAA?

As a rule of thumb, you will likely be subject to HIPAA if your website or app collects, processes, and shares health and healthcare-related data.

You will be bound to HIPAA if:

• You are a healthcare provider: Pharmacists, doctors, psychologists, and dentists whose practices share their patients’ health data electronically.
• You provide health plans: Such as insurance firms and health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
• Your business collects health data: Be it through IT services, cloud storage, or marketing and sales.
• You are a healthcare clearinghouse: This includes billing services and community health information systems.

What Counts as Protected Health Information (PHI)?

PHI is a broad category that includes many individual details. Simply put, it includes all data that could be used to identify someone and relates to their healthcare administration, status, and payment.

PHI includes any information gathered from a health-related system, such as:

• Personal Identifiers: A person’s details like their name, phone number, or physical address, which were obtained via medical records.
• Social Security Numbers: Unique identifiers like social security numbers that were obtained from or can be linked to an individual’s health records.
• Medical Information: Any data obtained from health records, doctors’ notes, diagnoses, and treatment plans.  
• Prescription Information: Data from pharmacies, clinics, or hospitals detailing an individual’s present or past medication.
• Biometric Data: Information about a person’s biology, such as facial, fingerprint, voiceprint, and DNA-related details.
• Visual Identifiers: Forward-facing photographs and related images that can be used to recognize an individual.
• Other Identifying Information: Any related information that may be linked to an individual's health details, such as insurance details, account numbers, or dates of medical services.

“In healthcare and other sensitive industries, data isn’t just data, it’s patient information, privacy, and trust. When we talk about HIPAA, we’re talking about a regulation that mandates strict protection for health information. For any healthcare organization, using analytics comes with a big question: “Are we putting PHI at risk?” - Onur Alp Soner, CEO at Countly

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How Countly Helps Businesses Stay HIPAA Compliant

Even with direct instructions, ensuring your business is HIPAA-compliant is no small task. Countly is a first-party digital analytics platform that can empower your efforts to truly secure your users’ sensitive information, including health information. Countly empowers you to capture, analyze, and act on data while keeping it private.

We asked Arturs Sosins, our CTO at Countly, how Countly’s first-party data model ensures compliance with strict regulations like HIPAA:

“I don’t think there is much difference between first-party and third-party for HIPPA from a technical point of view. It is more of a risk management question. If previously third-party data is leaked, you could say it is their problem; they leaked it. Then, with compliance frameworks like HIPPA, you are responsible for third-party vendors, and you need to vet them and do the due diligence.” - Arturs Sosins - CTO at Countly

By utilizing Countly’s first-party data model, you can eliminate the reliance on third-party services and gain complete data ownership. This reduces the risks related to third-party leaks and simplifies compliance with regulations such as HIPAA, thereby ensuring enhanced security and accountability.

Our privacy-first design, data security features, and dynamic hosting options guide us as we empower organizations’ personalized user experiences. Countly achieves this free of third-party dependencies, streamlining data integration across multiple devices.

We can provide you with all the actionable insights needed to optimize your product experiences while complying with global privacy regulations.

Find out how Countly can help your HIPAA compliance goals below:

• Data Control and Privacy: Countly gives you authority over your data. You can decide exactly what data to gather with customized SDKs and sophisticated anonymization. Self-hosted solutions ensure compliance and data control while guaranteeing complete ownership.
• Advanced Data Security: Countly uses strong encryption to safeguard your data while it is in transit and at rest. Strict access controls, incident response protocols, and routine security audits also protect your data from attacks.
• Uncomplicated Access to Data: Only authorized individuals can access critical data thanks to secure API endpoints, audit trails, and role-based access controls. Countly maintains stringent accountability while making data accessible.
• Prioritizing Privacy in Design: Countly's compliance-focused design prioritizes privacy beyond the bare minimum. Its customized SDKs and Data Manager reduce privacy by adhering to HIPAA's need-to-know principle.
• Dedication to Security and Openness: Security is a primary concern, not only a feature. To protect the security and compliance of your data, Countly encourages open communication, continuous security improvements, and a culture of trust.

Self-hosting is the optimal choice for businesses that prioritize HIPAA compliance. With Countly's self-hosted solution, businesses retain complete control over sensitive data, ensuring full data ownership and eliminating third-party risks.

Unlike cloud-based options, self-hosting is advisable for businesses requiring strict security and compliance, as it guarantees that no outside party can access your data.

What are companies' most common technical pitfalls when ensuring HIPAA compliance in analytics? Let’s find out what Arturs had to say.

“I don’t think there are specific technical problems. The problem is mostly data security. Even if all your systems are secure, third parties may still leak data. You need to notify your customers about that and take responsibility.” - Arturs Sosins - CTO at Countly

Unlike traditional analytics solutions that rely on third-party servers, Countly is a first-party analytics platform.

This eliminates the risks associated with third-party data processing and provides businesses using Countly full ownership and control over their data. By choosing Countly's self-hosted or private cloud options, businesses can be confident that no external vendors can access their sensitive information, significantly easing compliance with regulations like HIPAA.

HIPAA Compliance FAQ

1. If my app is hosted outside the US, do I still have to follow HIPAA?

Regardless of where your servers are located, you must adhere to HIPAA if your app gathers or retains PHI from U.S. individuals.

2. How frequently should I perform risk assessments for HIPAA?

You should conduct risk assessments annually or whenever your digital infrastructure experiences significant changes.

3. Is it possible to store PHI on the cloud?

Yes, but only if the cloud service provider agrees to abide by HIPAA security standards and signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).

4. How much does non-compliance with HIPAA cost?

The highest annual penalty for each category of infringement is $1.5 million, with fines varying from $100 to $50,000 per infraction.

5. Does HIPAA require data encryption?

Although encryption is not required, it is advised. However, if a data breach occurs, not encrypting PHI could result in harsher fines.

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