Is HIPAA Compliance Possible in the Cloud?
Are you in the health care industry, or support a health care organization? If so, you could be thinking about a HIPAA compliant cloud solution. But can a cloud solution get stalled even before it gets started when you attempt to align with the administration requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act?
On one hand, cloud computing offers a great option for delivering private information in a secure manner to organizations and users. However, not all cloud platforms are the same, nor are they HIPAA compliant, particularly given the evolving regulations of HIPAA.
The best HIPAA compliant cloud solutions are developed by experienced cloud experts and incorporate industry-leading virtualization and security technologies that can provide secure and compliant access to ensure HIPAA compliance. Multilayer network redundancy architecture ensures proper segmentation and isolation required by the HIPAA mandate.
Going a step further, some cloud providers even tailor HIPAA compliant cloud architecture based on the organization’s specific business and user requirements. A select few like Flexential offer this level of support to include roles and responsibilities that outline policies, procedures and operational controls, as well as determining security from the facility to the network and servers all the way down to the applications and data management.
Beyond the technology, it’s important to be able to quickly and easily generate reports for auditing purposes. Choose a cloud solution that features File Integrity Management (FIM) and Security Incident and Event Management (SEIM) solutions. This technology allows for dashboards and on-demand reporting to assist in compliance audits. Many hosting providers offer services and reporting solutions to assist with HIPAA audits. Flexential’s HIPAA compliant cloud solution offers a fully audit-ready Compliance-as-a-Service solution that meets HIMSS-Good Informatics Practices (GIP) specifications and procedures.