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HIPAA Compliance Made Simple with Sectona Privileged Access Security

Secure privileged access and safeguard patient data across critical healthcare systems.

Background

As the healthcare industry accelerates its transformative digital journey, the cyber threat landscape continues to grow treacherously. Threat actors find the healthcare sector to be lucrative for launching targeted attacks and benefitting from the extracted sensitive data of patients and health workers.

A data breach in the health infrastructure can expose critical health records and Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Beyond that, cyber incidents in the industry can halt emergency life support services.

This mapping document is designed to help IT professionals and cybersecurity implementors of the healthcare domain map HIPAA requirements with the features of the Sectona Security Platform.

Overview

The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced in 1996 to ensure the efficiency of health services and increase the number of citizens with health insurance coverage in the United States. HIPAA is a milestone legislation for the healthcare industry in the US. The framework covers its compliance controls with three critical provisions:

Portability Provisions
Tax Provisions
Administration Simplification Provisions

Structure of HIPAA

HIPAA is composed of several rules and titles to regulate the privacy and security of healthcare information.

Title I – Health Insurance Reform
Title II – Administrative Simplification
Title III – Tax-Related Health Provisions
Title IV – Application and Enforcement of Group Health Plan Requirements
Title V – Revenue Offsets

Key Rules Under HIPAA

Privacy Rule
Regulates the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) to ensure patient privacy.

Security Rule
Establishes security standards for protecting electronic PHI (ePHI).

Breach Notification Rule
Requires covered entities to notify affected individuals and authorities in case of a data breach.

Enforcement Rule
Specifies the penalties for HIPAA violations.

Omnibus Rule
Amends and strengthens HIPAA rules, including applying rules to business associates.

Scope

HIPAA applies to specific organisations, known as “covered entities,” as defined below:

Healthcare Providers: Providers of medical services that transmit health information electronically, including doctors, hospitals, clinics, dentists, chiropractors, and pharmacies.
Health Plans: An individual or a group plan that provides medical care, such as health insurance companies.
Healthcare Clearinghouses that process non-standard health information into a standard format or vice versa, like billing services or re-pricing companies.

2. HIPAA also applies to business associates within covered entities who act on behalf of a covered entity, and the actions involve the use or disclosure of PHI. 

3. HIPAA governs the PHI, including all Personally Identifiable Information related to health status, healthcare provision or medical payments that can identify a person. 

4. The Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) of the HIPAA Security Standards requires covered entities and business associates to implement technical, administrative and physical safeguards to protect ePHI.

Applicability

Healthcare Services and Payments
Data Sharing and Disclosures
Research and Public Health
Health Data Transmission
Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
Telehealth Services
Marketing and Fundraising Activities

Non-Compliance

When the covered entities and business associates fail to comply with HIPAA, they can face severe penalties, including:

Civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation, depending on the level of negligence.
Criminal penalties, such as criminal charges, fines, and imprisonment, for individuals or entities found guilty of intentionally mishandling PHI.

Mapping HIPAA Requirements with Sectona’s PAM and EPM

Security Standards

This rule covers federal regulations requiring healthcare entities and their business associates to implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect ePHI.

Administrative Safeguards
Includes policies and procedures for managing the selection, development, implementation, and maintenance of security measures to protect ePHI.

Related Resources

Solution Briefs

Guide to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 – Requirement Mapping for PAM and EPM Compliance

Solution Briefs

Feature Mapping: HIPAA Compliance Guidelines and Sectona Platform

Solution Briefs

Feature Mapping: RBI Cyber Security Framework and Sectona Platform

164.308(a)(1)(i) Security Management Process

Description

Implement policies and procedures to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security violations.