White Paper: The Next-Generation Of HIPAA And Data Protection

With information security and compliance on the minds of many, it seems that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been sort of an afterthought. Until now. As data breaches grow, lawyers are becoming more tech-savvy and politicians are seeing opportunities. The HIPAA Security Rule and Privacy Rule are no longer a set of optional best practices that organizations in the healthcare industry should consider. It's a law once ahead of its time that has now come of age.

Once considered an outdated industry using outdated technologies, healthcare information systems are rapidly maturing. Add to that the complexities of the networked systems we use today along with all the sensitive healthcare data being shuffled around, and it becomes clear that businesses in this industry have their hands full.

Healthcare professionals access electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) in so many places. In fact, legislation was recently passed in the US pushing for all patient information to be electronic; thus, its presence and use is only going to increase. To ensure reasonable services are provided, ePHI needs to be readily available. But therein lies the problem. There are not only multiple access points but also multiple individuals involved. Having healthcare data anywhere and everywhere broadens the areas of exposure, ultimately creating compliance gaps and introducing business risks.