Enhanced information exchange is encouraged by HIPAA requirements when electronic health records are used.
On the one hand, it boosts the effectiveness and quality of healthcare systems, but on the other, it places a heavy burden on healthcare organizations because failure to comply with HIPAA regulations can result in significant financial penalties.
The risk assessment process is a crucial step in assuring compliance. Yet, inaccurate or insufficient risk analysis might result in security system flaws and data breaches. If you lack the requisite time or resources, in-house IT specialists, or both, risk assessments can be particularly difficult.
In this article, we’ll go through a step-by-step procedure for performing an exhaustive risk analysis of your electronically Protected Health Information (ePHI) and HIPAA compliance.
WHAT IS A HIPAA RISK ASSESSMENT?
Any institution that generates, receives, stores, or transmits ePHI must make sure that it is protecting the data adequately. Maintaining compliance with the HIPAA Security Regulation entails assessing security threats to the ePHI and putting precautions in place.
The term “HIPAA Risk Assessment” refers to a risk assessment carried out to assess the security threats to an organization’s electronically protected health information (ePHI) that may result in violations of the Privacy Rule.
A HIPAA risk assessment will include comprehensive guidelines to meet a certain requirement, some of which are necessary and others of which are solvable. An organization’s policies and procedures are documented through required specifications, whereas addressable specifications provide the company the freedom to select the best controls to achieve those specifications.
For instance, while a risk analysis is a necessary requirement, password management is an addressable requirement because it may be satisfied by a variety of strategies, such as multi-factor authentication.
HOW TO PERFORM A HIPAA RISK ASSESSMENT?
1. CUSTOMIZE THE RISK ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION
Even within the same industry, organizations vary greatly in terms of things like size, infrastructure, business style, etc. Based on these variations, a HIPAA risk assessment can be modified to meet a particular organization. The risk evaluation can be modified based on:
- The organization’s size, complexity, and capabilities,
- Skills in terms of security and IT infrastructure,
- Prospective security hazards’ likelihood, seriousness, and
- Security measures’ price.
2. Define THE SCOPE
Determining the scope is one of the initial steps in any project, including risk assessments. This is quite simple in terms of HIPAA risk assessment.
3. ANALYZE CURRENT SECURITY ACTIONS
Once you’ve determined where your data is kept and who has access to it, you need to evaluate your security procedures as they stand right now. You might begin by listing all the security precautions you have taken to safeguard the ePHI.
Both technical and non-technical controls, such as physical locks, a security desk, rules, etc., should be part of it. Examples of technical controls include access controls, encryption, etc.