Is SharePoint HIPAA Compliant and Meets Healthcare Regulations?

SharePoint has a built-in feature called Information Rights Management (IRM) that allows organizations to control access to sensitive data, including patient health information.

This feature ensures that only authorized users can view or edit sensitive data, meeting one of the key requirements for HIPAA compliance.

However, to achieve true HIPAA compliance, organizations must also implement additional security measures, such as encryption and access controls.

SharePoint's encryption capabilities, including the use of SSL/TLS and AES-256, provide an additional layer of security to protect sensitive data.

Additional reading: Hipaa Data Governance

To ensure compliance and data security, healthcare organizations must implement strict user access controls, activity monitoring functions, and regular security assessments in SharePoint. This includes encrypting all stored data, securing data in transit, controlling data access, monitoring user activity, and keeping an audit trail.

Microsoft has prepared a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for Office 365, Yammer, and SharePoint, which allows healthcare organizations to use these platforms with Protected Health Information (PHI). However, healthcare organizations are still responsible for following all applicable laws and regulations.

Additional reading: Security Standards Hipaa

To comply with HIPAA, covered entities must ensure that individuals or roles with access are authorized, audit trails are being monitored, and the appropriate security measures are enabled. This includes training staff on how to handle PHI and sensitive data.

A comprehensive data leak prevention tool like Strac SharePoint DLP can add an additional layer of security to SharePoint, ensuring adherence to compliance standards such as HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR. This tool provides real-time monitoring, automated data categorization, advanced redaction, intelligent alerts, and streamlined compliance management.

Here are some key features of Strac SharePoint DLP:

Healthcare organizations bound by HIPAA regulations should not underestimate the significance of SharePoint consulting, maintenance, and support services to minimize the probability of security issues.

Data security and leaks are major concerns for healthcare organizations using SharePoint. Improper handling of sensitive data and protected information within SharePoint can open your organization up to significant regulatory and litigation risks. This is especially true when storing PHI, which requires an Office 365 Enterprise or Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan, a signed BAA with Microsoft, and strict user access controls.

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The risk of data leaks is always present, even with SharePoint's security features. A company using SharePoint suffered a ransomware attack in June 2023, where the attacker stole hundreds of files. This highlights the need for additional security mechanisms to safeguard PHI against breaches and leaks.

To prevent data leaks, healthcare organizations can use Strac SharePoint DLP, a comprehensive data leak prevention tool. This tool ensures compliance through real-time monitoring, automated data categorization, and advanced redaction. It also provides instantaneous email redactions, comprehensive audit overviews, and effortless integration with SharePoint.

Here are some key features of Strac SharePoint DLP:

SharePoint security gaps can also lead to data leaks. These gaps include assigning direct permissions, overusing granular permissions, and overusing broken inheritance. To minimize these risks, healthcare organizations should consider SharePoint consulting, maintenance, and support services.

Compliance and Safeguards are crucial when it comes to protecting sensitive information in the healthcare industry. HIPAA regulations require verification of individuals seeking access to Protected Health Information (PHI).

Administrative safeguards are essential to protect PHI, and they involve written policies and procedures that dictate PHI's proper uses and disclosures. These safeguards require healthcare institutions to perform risk assessment and risk management, develop and review information system activity reports, and manage information access.

The Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a written contract between a covered entity and a business associate that ensures the business associate will adequately protect PHI. Microsoft can enter into a BAA with a healthcare organization to deliver services.

Technical safeguards are measures that protect electronic PHI (ePHI), and they include encryption, user authentication, access controls, and audit controls. SharePoint supports two types of data encryption: encryption of data in transit and encryption of data at rest.

Here are the three main security groups in SharePoint, which are required by HIPAA:

Physical safeguards are also essential to protect PHI, and they involve controls related to physical access to information and systems. Microsoft data centers have multilayer protection that ensures high security of stored data, and the personnel's identities are verified through multifactor authentication.

To ensure compliance with HIPAA, covered entities must make sure that individuals or roles that have access are authorized, that audit trails are being monitored, that the appropriate security measures are enabled, and that users are trained on the platform and the requirements of PHI.

A unique perspective: Hipaa Security Services

File sharing and compliance go hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to sensitive patient data. HIPAA regulations require file sharing services to implement specific security features to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI.

A HIPAA-compliant file sharing service must encrypt all stored data, both at rest and in transit. This means that even if a malicious third party gains access to the servers or data in transit, they won't be able to read or modify it.

To control data access, a HIPAA-compliant file sharing service should implement strong data access control mechanisms like two-factor authentication and data classification. This prevents unauthorized user access and ensures that only authorized individuals can view sensitive patient data.

Real-time activity monitoring is also crucial in detecting rogue users and stopping them before they cause damage. By tracking changes made to files, a HIPAA-compliant file sharing service can guarantee that no sensitive patient data has been tampered with.

For another approach, see: Hipaa Compliant Answering Service

Here are some key security features that a HIPAA-compliant file sharing service should have:

By implementing these security features, a file sharing service can ensure that it is HIPAA-compliant and protect sensitive patient data.

Business Associate Agreements are a crucial determinant of HIPAA compliance. Even the most secure software platform is NOT HIPAA compliant if it will not sign a business associate agreement (BAA). A BAA is a legal agreement that requires each signing party to be HIPAA-compliant and be responsible for maintaining compliance.

Microsoft has prepared a business associate agreement for Office365, Yammer, and SharePoint. This will allow them to be used with Protected Health Information (PHI). Microsoft has stated that SharePoint Online with Office 365 Enterprise is HIPAA compliant.

Microsoft will sign Business Associate Agreements, but their website states that SharePoint Online is HIPAA compliant if paired with Office 365 Enterprise. The end-user must ensure that the platform is installed and configured correctly, including all appropriate security add-ons.

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To comply with HIPAA, covered entities must make sure that individuals or roles that have access are authorized, that audit trails are being monitored, that the appropriate security measures are enabled, and that users are trained on the platform and the requirements of PHI.

A Business Associate Agreement limits the liability for both signing parties in case of a breach or OCR audit, as only the negligent party would be held culpable. This is a crucial aspect of HIPAA compliance.

Here are the key requirements for a Business Associate Agreement:

Signing a BAA with Microsoft does not ensure compliance. Healthcare organizations must also ensure their use of SharePoint remains compliant, at all times. This involves configuring SharePoint’s security settings, including applying strict access controls and sharing permissions.

To ensure SharePoint is HIPAA compliant, you'll want to utilize compliance software and tools that can help automate tasks and detect potential security risks.

Risk Exposure: Compliance software can help you identify sensitive data across your SaaS and Cloud, so you can take action to protect it.

Detect & Remediate: Tools like redaction, masking, and alerting can be used to automatically detect and remediate sensitive data exposure.

Compliance software can automate compliance with regulations like PCI, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR, so you can focus on other important tasks.

Some compliance features to look for in software include:

If you're looking for healthcare compliance software that's top-rated on G2, you'll want to check out the following features.

Automated compliance is a must-have for healthcare organizations. It can help you meet requirements for PCI, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR.

You can detect and remediate sensitive data exposure across your SaaS and cloud platforms. This can help you learn how much sensitive data you have and take action to protect it.

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Automating sensitive data security can help you remediate issues quickly and efficiently. This can include redaction, masking, and alerting to prevent further exposure.

The following software solutions on G2 offer these features and more:

A software tool can be deemed HIPAA compliant if it has safeguards to keep patient data private and secure. This means the tool must encrypt all stored data, both at rest and in transit, to prevent unauthorized access.

To ensure patient data is secure, a software tool must implement strong data access control mechanisms, such as two-factor authentication and data classification. This helps prevent unauthorized user access and ensures that only authorized individuals can view sensitive patient information.

A software tool is also considered HIPAA compliant if its provider signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). A BAA is a legal contract that outlines each party's responsibilities when handling Protected Health Information (PHI) or electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).

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Here are the key indicators of a software tool's HIPAA compliance:

By having these safeguards in place, a software tool can help ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI, making it a valuable asset for healthcare providers and organizations.