HIPAA IT Compliance

In 1996, the federal government passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The law contains rules surrounding the use and distribution of medical and patient information. All organizations within the healthcare industry must adhere to HIPAA regulations or they may be penalized. As experts in compliance, the E-N Computers team can help your business avoid the penalties of noncompliance with a HIPAA assessment.

What Is a HIPAA Compliance Assessment?

Healthcare providers and other organizations within the industry are increasingly moving to technology-based solutions for the storage and movement of personal health information (PHI). As a result, it’s more important than ever to go the extra mile in protecting PHI. HIPAA’s guidelines were created to set a minimum standard that all organizations handling PHI must follow to safeguard patients’ data.

At E-N Computers, the success of your business is our top priority. If your company handles PHI, we can perform a HIPAA compliance assessment. This is where our experts carry out a thorough analysis of your IT environment. With the information gathered from the assessment, we can determine if your systems meet HIPAA regulations. From there, we provide you with a report on our findings and recommendations on how to regain compliance.

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Compliance Made Easy

When you work with E-N Computers, our consultants can identify any instances of noncompliance and recommend how to resolve those compliance gaps.

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The Tiers of HIPAA Penalties

The Health and Human Services (HHS) department takes HIPAA compliance very seriously, enforcing HIPAA requirements aggressively by assigning stiff financial penalties that follow a four-tier system.

  • Tier 1

    Accidental, low-impact HIPAA violations are eligible for a $100 fine per violation, with an annual maximum of $25,000.

  • Tier 2

    For higher impact violations, fines increase to $1,000 per violation, with an annual maximum of $100,000.

  • Tier 3

    HHS takes intentional neglect of HIPAA requirements very seriously. If healthcare entities don’t correct first-time HIPAA compliance violations in a timely fashion, the fine stands at $10,000 per violation, with an annual maximum of $250,000.

  • Tier 4

    Entities that knowingly violate HIPAA and fail to correct the problem face a fine of $50,000 per violation, with an annual maximum of $1.5 million. Intentional violations of the HIPAA requirements related to privacy, such as in a hacking attack or copying and disseminating PHI, carry fines up to $100,000 and up to 10 years in prison.

Who Needs to be HIPAA Compliant?

If you have access to PHI, it’s best to err on the side of caution. However, the messaging in HIPAA’s regulations identify two specific types of organizations that must always remain compliant. These organizations include:

  • Covered Entities: A covered entity refers to any organization that collects, creates, or transmits PHI electronically. Some examples include health care providers, health care clearinghouses, and health insurance providers.
  • Business Associates: If you’re an organization that encounters PHI in any way—whether through transmission, processing, or storage—you’re considered a business associate. Companies like billing firms, consultants, IT providers, and more fall under this category.

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