A Comprehensive Guide About How To Be Compliant With HIPAA and GDPR
The healthcare industry is facing more regulations than ever before, making it more important than ever for organizations to ensure data security. HIPAA and GDPR are two of the most important regulations that healthcare providers must consider, as compliance with both of them is required for maintaining patient safety and trust. While these laws have overlapping priorities, they also have unique requirements that can be difficult to keep track of.
For any organization handling personal data related to healthcare, compliance with HIPAA and GDPR is not just a matter of trust - non-compliance carries high penalties that can cause serious harm to the reputation of the provider. It is essential for organizations to have in-depth knowledge of the two laws so that their patient data remains secure and protected at all times. For more information on how to ensure compliance with HIPAA, you can read this article. This guide will provide an overview of the two regulations and explain how organizations can meet their obligations under each.
What is HIPAA?
Established in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) safeguards personal medical information. Healthcare professionals, health plans, and any entity that comes into contact with protected health information must abide by this law to ensure its privacy is kept intact. Transgressors of HIPAA can be subject to enormous fines or even criminal charges if they fail to comply. With HIPAA's stringent regulations, individuals have the assurance their private medical data remains secure at all times.
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union law that was enacted in 2018 to protect the personal data of EU citizens. The GDPR applies to any organization that processes personal data belonging to EU citizens, regardless of where the organization is located. The GDPR requires organizations to obtain explicit consent from individuals before processing their personal data, as well as take measures to ensure its security. Organizations that fail to comply with GDPR may face significant fines or other sanctions.
How Do HIPAA And GDPR Differ?
Although both HIPAA and GDPR are designed to protect individuals’ personal data, there are some key differences between them:
- Scope: HIPAA applies only to healthcare providers, health plans, and other entities that handle PHI; whereas GDPR applies to any organization that processes personal data belonging to EU citizens, regardless of where it is located.
- Personal Data: Under HIPAA “personal data” refers only to PHI; whereas under GDPR “personal data” includes any information related to an identified or identifiable individual.
- Consent: Under HIPAA consent is not required for processing PHI; whereas under GDPR explicit consent must be obtained from individuals before their personal data can be processed.
- Security Requirements: Both regulations require organizations to take measures to ensure the security of personal data; however, they have different requirements for what constitutes “adequate security”. For example, under HIPAA encryption of PHI is not mandatory while it is mandatory under GDPR for certain types of sensitive personal data such as financial information or biometric data.
- Enforcement: Both regulations have significant penalties for non-compliance; however they differ in terms of who enforces them – in the US enforcement of HIPAA falls under the jurisdiction of HHS while enforcement of GDPR falls under the jurisdiction of individual EU member states’ supervisory authorities such as the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK or CNIL in France.
How Can Organizations Comply With Both Regulations?
Although complying with both regulations can seem daunting at first glance, there are steps organizations can take toward achieving compliance with both laws:
Understand Your Obligations:
As data privacy laws become increasingly complex and commonplace, organizations must become proactive in understanding the obligations associated with each regulation. Understanding which types of personal data are covered by each law is the first step in becoming compliant; from there, organizations need to make sure that their systems and processes meet all of the requirements of the specific regulations. Taking this approach will ensure that companies not only remain compliant with the latest laws but also protect their custodianship of private customer information. By taking these steps, companies can ensure that they remain at the forefront of knowledge about data privacy rulings and provide secure services to customers.
Develop Policies & Procedures:
Once an organization understands the laws and regulations governing their handling of personal data, they should establish written policies and procedures that document how they will comply with those obligations. This includes obtaining appropriate consent from individuals before collecting and processing their personal information, implementing security measures to keep that data safe and secure, specifying the length of time for which it will retain this information, and providing instructions for when and how it should be deleted. Creating these targeted policies and procedures ensures that the organization is taking due diligence to protect its customers’ personal data in a responsible manner.
Train Employees:
Ensuring employee training on personal data can be a valuable tool when it comes to best practices in security and privacy. Training employees handling personal data reinforces the importance of complying with your policies & procedures and will help to prevent costly breaches of security. Furthermore, personnel should also be trained on topics such as recognizing potential risks associated with their work so they can identify any threats quickly and take appropriate action if there is a breach. By investing in employee training, you can make sure that everyone handling personal data knows how to do it safely and securely.
Monitor Compliance:
Organizations have an ethical obligation to ensure that their systems and processes are aligned with the regulations put forward by the governing bodies. Monitoring their systems and procedures on a regular basis is key to upholding their commitment to compliance; this review should be comprehensive, encompassing both internal policies and external regulations. Further, conducting audits of all systems periodically can be utilized as a way of ensuring accuracy and preventing any unintentional non-compliance. The importance of maintaining top-level compliance cannot be overstated, making this ongoing assessment necessary for any organization operating within its boundaries.
By taking these steps organizations can ensure they are compliant with both HIPAA such as GDPR and avoid potential penalties for non-compliance.
Final Thoughts:
Compliance with HIPAA and GDPR can be a complex process. However, by taking the necessary steps toward understanding both regulations, developing policies & procedures for compliance, training employees, and regularly monitoring systems & processes organizations can ensure that they are in compliance with both laws. This will help them avoid potential penalties and make sure that the personal data of their customers and/or employees is secure.
By taking these steps, organizations can protect themselves and the privacy of their customers while avoiding potential legal issues.
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