hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com Announces Comprehensive White Paper Publication on the HIPAA Security Rule Discussing Best Practices for Ensuring Full Compliance for Healthcare Entities

    DALLAS, TX, October 30, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The HIPAA Security Rule, contained within Title II of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, consists of comprehensive mandates for ensuring the safety and security of Protected Health Information (PHI). More specifically, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (www.hhs.gov) the HIPAA Security Rule "...establishes national standards to protect individuals' electronic personal health information that is created, received, used, or maintained by a covered entity".

HIPAA is here to stay - there's no debating that - so it's time healthcare organizations understood important facets of the most well-known aspect of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - the HIPAA Security Rule.

Here are the top 15 items covered in our Comprehensive HIPAA Security Rule White Paper:

1. Documentation, more specifically, HIPAA policies and procedures, are incredibly important for ensuring compliance.
2. Numerous initiatives have to be developed and put in place for helping ensure compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule.
3. A HIPAA Security Officer - and supporting staff - is a mandate - and a must-have - for ensuring continued compliance oversight.
4. Both the HIPAA Security Rule and Privacy Rule consist of dozens of "Standards" and "Implementation Specifications" - provisions require numerous policies and procedures to be in place for compliance.
5. The concept of "addressable" versus "required".
6. Various amendments, modifications, along with the passage of other legislative laws, have made the HIPAA Security Rule now more important than ever from a regulatory compliance perspective.
7. Business Associates now have much larger roles and responsibilities.
8. Increased cyber security threats and attacks demand a concerted effort by healthcare organizations for ensuring the safety and security of Protected Health Information (PHI).
9. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights has announced an aggressive expansion of audits against the HIPAA Security Rule for both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA).
10. Security awareness training and undertaking an annual risk assessment are two (2) very important components of the HIPAA Security Rule.
11. Heavy fines and penalties are being levied against Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) for non-compliance.
12. The HIPAA Security Rule is now an important element in regards to many of today's compliance audits and assessments, such as the SSAE 16 SOC 1 and AT 101 SOC 2 framework.
13. In today's growing world of outsourcing, monitoring all relevant third-parties for ensuring the safety and security of Protected Health Information (PHI) is now more important than ever, and also a high priority for HIPAA compliance.
14. The HIPAA Security Rule is considered somewhat subjective and vague.

Flat Iron Technologies, LLC (FIT) is comprised of highly talented and experienced professionals with a true passion for helping businesses succeed in today's growing world of regulatory compliance mandates. From Sarbanes-Oxley to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - and the dozens of other regional and global laws, legislative requirements and industry specific demands - we're a perfect FIT for helping your company prosper and thrive.

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