Ottomatic HIPAA Hosting
While databases are not inherently HIPAA-compliant, cloud hosting providers can deliver the cloud services and database management services required to make compliance easy. HIPAA legislation requires organizations to implement the following to ensure compliance:
Access control
Data encryption
Audit logging
User authentication
Data backups and disaster recovery
Business Associate Agreements (BAA)
To maintain a HIPAA-compliant server, you must follow a distinct set of guidelines. You should:
Fully encrypt your data at rest and in transit
Harden the operating system and close any not used ports
Enforce unique user authentication and multi-factor authentication
Maintain audit logs
Perform regular, fully encrypted server backups
Assign appropriate user roles and privileges
Perform vulnerability scans regularly to ensure no gaps are missed
Utilize anti-malware, file scanners, network scanners for ongoing HIPAA compliance monitoring to ensure no breaches occur
Sensitive data can be stored using HIPAA-compliant cloud services if the necessary technical safeguards are met by the HIPAA-compliant hosting provider, such as having encryption enabled, a signed BAA in place, and access controls for HIPAA-compliant data centers and infrastructure.