Health IT Security and HIPAA 101

lock image for privacy blog post 2While advances in technology allow us to store important health information on the cloud and within our mobile applications, CNSI and organizations like ours have the added requirement to always ensure privacy and security when it comes to holding confidential data.

lock image for privacyWhile advances in technology allow us to store important health information on the cloud and within our mobile applications, CNSI and organizations like ours have the added requirement to always ensure privacy and security when it comes to holding confidential data. To address concerns regarding the security of a patient’s personal information, certain standards have been implemented that require providers to comply with privacy standards.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) establish a number of rules in order to protect patients and their information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of an individual’s health information, while the HIPAA Security Rule sets national standards for the protection of electronic health information. Both set the industry standards on how to keep information secure and safe.

Additionally, groups such as the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), which focuses on creating better health care through information technology, have developed resources for organizations to use in order to comply with privacy and security regulations. The HIMSS Privacy and Security Committee hopes to achieve that “By 2014, all entities who use, send, or store health information meet requirements for confidentiality, integrity, availability, and accountability based on sound risk management practices, using recognized standards and protocols.”

To move towards these initiatives, HIMSS has provided tools such as the HIMSS Cloud Security Toolkit which delivers resources to health care organizations to help them make informed security decisions related the use of cloud computing. Additionally, the Mobile Security Toolkit assists organizations in their efforts to manage the security of mobile devices and applications.

CNSI provides a number of health care solutions that fully comply with security standards. Solutions such as the Medicaid as a Service and our myHealthButton app provide patients with information while ensuring that security requirements like authentication, authorization and identity management are well covered.

Do you feel like your information is secure on the cloud? Tweet @CNSICorp to let us know! Follow CNSI on Twitter.

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