Are your file transfers HIPAA compliant? Is your healthcare organization at risk for fines, or worse - a data breach of sensitive patient information? Many healthcare IT teams meet these broad questions with unease. After all, the ramifications of a healthcare data breach can impact organizations and individuals for years to come as well as have a severe impact on an organization’s bottom line and reputation.
Related Reading: The Top 10 Healthcare Data Breaches of 2020
HIPAA Compliance Poses Challenges to IT Teams
HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic health information. For any healthcare IT professional working in the industry—or for any trading partner or organization that does business with healthcare organizations—HIPAA compliance is a substantial concern. Compliance is strictly enforced, with penalties including hefty fines and, in rare cases, even prison sentences.
On-demand Webinar: HIPAA Data Security Best Practices
HIPAA is dedicated to protecting patient health information, but cybersecurity is only a portion of what the law covers, and HIPAA’s security standards were not written for an IT audience. Avoiding specific technical language means the law changes with the times and allows organizations to adopt new technologies that help them meet HIPAA requirements. This approach provides flexibility, but it also makes HIPAA compliance challenging. IT professionals have to translate HIPAA into IT terms to determine exactly what steps they need to take to become and stay compliant.
Related Reading: Compliance for Healthcare: Secure File Transfer Holds the Key
Managed File Transfer Can Help Address HIPAA Compliance Requirements
Patient care involves constantly exchanging and updating electronic records, making file transfers a potential area of security vulnerability. A robust managed file transfer (MFT) solution, such as GoAnywhere MFT, protects valuable personal data at rest and in motion while simplifying HIPAA compliance.
For details on how GoAnywhere MFT can easily simplify the many HIPAA requirements that impact IT teams, check out our guide to meeting HIPAA compliance with MFT. You’ll discover how GoAnywhere MFT prevents unauthorized access by authenticating users and passwords with a variety of techniques including database authentication, LDAP, and Active Directory. In addition, organizations can easily generate audit trails and reports, which can document if unauthorized attempts are made to alter or delete documents.
