Top 10 HIPAA Security Tips
1. Perform a risk analysis. A security risk analysis is the basis by which CEs should establish their priorities and determine which security implementation specifications they should address and in what order.

2. Use unique identification. Based on a history of compromising security for convenience, many CEs have used generic user IDs or the user IDs have been shared. By providing secure, yet convenient access to information through single sign-on technology, CEs can ensure appropriate tracking of information access to a particular user.

3. Implement access controls. Granular levels of access controls help ensure that users are able to access only information deemed minimum necessary to their requirements.

4. Implement role-based access control. Wherever possible, the automation of role-based user provisioning will help improve the minimum-necessary process and could reduce current expenses for security management, if automated.

5. Monitor all security incidents. Consolidating and correlating log information across the enterprise will assist in monitoring, reporting and, ultimately, preventing security incidents.

6. Provide secure, convenient access to ePHI. Improving security and convenience of access to ePHI allows CEs to deliver value to their users and improve the likelihood that users will follow security policies and procedures.

7. Monitor network utilization. Mitigate risks by monitoring utilization of the network to help ensure that corporate resources are used only for legitimate purposes.

8. Minimize vulnerabilities across the network. Identify securityvulnerabilities that may compromise the security and confidentiality of ePHI.

9. Monitor enterprise-wide data protection policies and procedures. Based on the disparate nature of data backup and recovery policies and procedures for many CEs, implementing a storage management portal will help ensure the availability of an exact, retrievable copy of ePHI as required under the security rule.

10. Improve utilization of storage resources. As the volume of data continues to increase along with HIPAA requirements to ensure that lost data can be recovered, deploying storage resource management technology will help save money for CEs by improving utilization of current resources before incurring new hardware expenses.

While every CE's situation and compliance challenges are unique, paying attention to these areas should help CEs form the basis for a strong HIPAA compliance strategy. By following these steps, CEs can facilitate their compliance efforts while improving user productivity and satisfaction, as well as reduce existing security management expenses.

Once CEs meet their compliance needs, they can also use these best practices to improve their overall resource management, so they maximize the return on their technology investments.

Petronella Computer Consultants, Inc. can assist you by performing a free HIPAA security risk assessment.  This audit will alert you to weaknesses and risks in your HIPAA compliance strategy. Customized compliance strategies involving cost-efficient technology will assist you in maximizing your HIPAA compliance efforts.