all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited es una solución de privacidad todo en uno"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Sin anuncios. Privacidad por defecto."],"People before profits":["Primero las personas, luego los beneficios"],"Security through transparency":["Seguridad con transparencia"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["Las mejores ofertas de Proton Mail en el ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["El único servicio de correo electrónico del mundo respaldado por la comunidad"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } hora","${ hours } horas"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Tiempo restante: ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } y ${ secondsLeft }"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuto","${ minutes } minutos"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } segundo","${ seconds } segundos"],"Limited time offer":["Oferta por tiempo limitado"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Cree múltiples direcciones"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Seudónimos de hide-my-email"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Cancele suscripciones a boletines rápidamente"],"Use your own domain name":["Use su propio dominio"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Tal como aparece en"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Obtenga un correo electrónico cifrado que protege su privacidad"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Oferta de Black Friday de Proton Mail: hasta un 40% de descuento"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Aproveche las rebajas de Black Friday y obtenga suscripciones de Proton Mail con hasta un 40 % de descuento. Encontrará las mejores ofertas en planes de correo electrónico seguro cifrado de extremo a extremo."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Rebajas de Black Friday en Proton Mail | Hasta un 40 % de descuento en correo electrónico seguro"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*Con un costo de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante el primer año"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*Con un costo de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante los primeros 2 años"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["Garantía de devolución de dinero de 30 días"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["Con un costo de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante los primeros 2 años"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["Con un costo de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante el primer año"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["Ahorre ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ DISCOUNT } off":["-${ DISCOUNT }"],"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["-${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Amo mi Proton Mail"],"My favorite email service":["Mi servicio de correo electrónico favorito"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Gracias Proton por mantenernos a salvo en el complicado universo de Internet."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Obtiene aquello por lo que paga. En el caso de la gran tecnología, cuando uno no paga nada, se acostumbra. Dejé de usar Gmail y cambié a @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Días"],"Hours":["Horas"],"Min":["min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["Y mucho más"],"Make your inbox yours":["Personalice su bandeja de entrada"],"Safe from trackers":["A salvo de rastreadores"],"Stay organized":["Mantenga el orden"],"Black Friday email deals":["Ofertas en correo electrónico del Black Friday"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["No confíe solo en nuestra palabra"],"Our story":["Nuestra historia"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Transfiera sus datos de Google con un solo clic"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Acceda a contenido bloqueado y navegue de forma privada. Incluye ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servidores en más de ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } países, conecta hasta 10 dispositivos, acceda a servicios de transmisión en todo el mundo, malware y bloqueador de anuncios, y más."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Comparta su calendario con familiares, amigos y compañeros fácilmente y consulte calendarios externos."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Incluye compatibilidad con 1 dominio de correo electrónico personalizado, 10 direcciones de correo electrónico, 10 seudónimos de hide-my-email, posibilidad de compartir calendario, etc."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Incluye compatibilidad con 3 dominios de correo electrónico personalizado, 15 direcciones de correo electrónico, seudónimos ilimitados de hide-my-email, posibilidad de compartir calendario, etc."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Administre hasta 25 calendarios, apps móviles, protegido con cifrado de extremo a extremo, importación de calendario con 1 clic desde Google y más."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["En este momento, tenemos problemas con el servicio Proton VPN."],"Learn more":["Más información"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Más información"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["Tenga en cuenta que, en este momento, estamos experimentando problemas con el servicio ${ issues[0] }."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["En este momento, tenemos problemas con uno o más servicios."]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Sugerencias"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subacategoria","Subcategorías"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } minuto","${ readingTime } minutos"],"Category":["Categoría","Categorías"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["¿No encontró lo que buscaba?"],"General contact":["Contacto general"],"Get help":["Obtener ayuda"],"Legal contact":["Contacto legal"],"Media contact":["Contacto para medios"],"Partnerships contact":["Contacto para colaboradores"],"Reading":["Lectura"]},"Support categories":{"Browse Proton product support":["Explore el soporte de productos de Proton"]},"Support category":{"There is no article in this category yet.":["Todavía no hay ningún artículo en esta categoría."]},"Support troubleshooting":{"--- Select ---":["--- Seleccionar ---"],"App version":["Versión de la app"],"Browser":["Navegador"],"Check if this helps":["Compruebe si le sirve"],"Choose a category for your question":["Elija la categoría de su pregunta"],"Choose a product":["Elija un producto"],"Did this solve your issue ?":["¿Resolvió su problema?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away — please make your selections":["Obtenga ayuda más rápidamente con tan solo unos clics. Haga su selección."],"No, contact support":["No, contactar a soporte"],"Proton account":["Cuenta de Proton"],"Proton Bridge":["Proton Bridge"],"Proton Calendar":["Calendario de Proton"],"Proton Drive":["Proton Drive"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Proton Mail":["Correo de Proton"],"Proton Pass":["Proton Pass"],"Proton VPN":["VPN de Proton"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Gracias por sus comentarios"],"Troubleshooting":["Solución de problemas"],"What can we help with ?":["¿En qué podemos ayudar?"],"Yes":["Sí"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Consulta"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Buscar"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Busco"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Para una resolución más rápida, reporte el problema desde la app Bridge: Ayuda > Reportar un problema."],"Information":["Información"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Seguridad de la cuenta"],"Contacts":["Contactos"],"Custom email domain":["Dominio de correo electrónico personalizado"],"Email delivery and Spam":["Entrega de correo electrónico y spam"],"Encryption":["Cifrado"],"Login and password":["Inicio de sesión y contraseña"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Combinar alias y cuentas"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migrar a Proton"],"Notifications":["Notificaciones"],"Other":["Otros"],"Plans and billing":["Planes y facturación"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Regístrese"],"Storage":["Almacenamiento"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Usuarios, direcciones e identidades"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Seleccione un tema"]},"swiss_baseed_feature":{"Swiss based":["Con sede en Suiza"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Premios"],"Customers":["Clientes"],"Featured":["Destacados"],"Go to testimonial source":["Ir a la fuente testimonial"],"Reviews":["Reseñas"],"Videos":["Videos"]},"Text":{"Find the plan that's right for you":["Encuentre el plan adecuado para usted"],"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Si necesita ayuda, consulte nuestra ${ supportLink }."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["Es posible que la página que busca haya sido eliminada o que sea un\nenlace antiguo."]},"Title":{"On this page":["En esta página"],"Related articles":["Artículos relacionados"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["Compartir ${ thisPage }"],"Thank you!":["¡Gracias!"],"this page":["esta página"]},"Tooltip":{"More information":["Más información"]},"tooltip_calendar":{"Create up to 20 custom & shareable encrypted calendars. On top of that, add up to 5 calendars from friends, family, colleagues, and organizations.":["Cree hasta 20 calendarios personalizados, compartibles y cifrados. Agregue hasta 5 calendarios de amigos, familiares, colegas y organizaciones."]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Acceda a contenido bloqueado y navegue en privado. Tendrá a su disposición más de ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servidores en más de ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } países, VPN de máxima velocidad, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } conexiones VPN, servicios de streaming en todo el mundo, bloqueadores de malware y de anuncios, y mucho más."],"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, 10 VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Acceda a contenido bloqueado y navegue en privado. Tendrá a su disposición más de ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servidores en más de ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } países, VPN de máxima velocidad, 10 conexiones VPN, servicios de streaming en todo el mundo, bloqueadores de malware y de anuncios, y mucho más."]},"version_history_label":{"Version history":["Historial de versiones"]},"version_history_tooltip":{"Store up to ${ versionHistoryNumber } versions of each file for up to ${ years } years":["Comparta hasta ${ versionHistoryNumber } versiones de cada archivo hasta durante ${ years } años"]},"vpn_features_link":{"View VPN plans":["Ver planes de VPN"]},"vpn_features_useCase":{"Access blocked content and browse privately":["Acceda a contenido bloqueado y navegue de forma privada"]}}},"unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api"};
// We need to import data (the framework context) from the server
// This Astro feature with define:vars works well but creates an inline script
// So we can't directly import the initFramework helper, we have to store the context
window.frameworkContext = frameworkContext;
})();
What is HIPAA compliance? A healthcare privacy guide for organizations | Proton
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) defines how healthcare services and their business associates in the United States handle sensitive data about their clients.
Regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), it is a collection of closely aligned regulations aimed at ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of personal medical data.
This article is part of our series focusing on the privacy and security aspects of the US’s most comprehensive federal data protection law.
HIPAA compliance is the ongoing and active process by which covered entities and business associates secure and protect protected health information (PHI).
Protected health information (PHI)
The purpose of HIPAA is to protect protected health information. PHI is any information that can be used to identify an individual, plus all medical records and related data. It includes:
Patient’s name, contact details, profession, social security number, billing, and insurance details
Any other personally identifiable information, such as photographs, fingerprints, and emergency contacts
Medical history and ongoing treatments
Family medical histories
Information collected through conversations between the patient and a healthcare provider
The Security Rule(new window) is an update to HIPAA that regulates how electronic protected health information (EPHI) — PHI that is stored and accessed in electronic form — must be protected.
Entities that must be HIPAA compliant
As a rule, any person or entity that has access to patients’ medical data must be HIPAA compliant. These entities are defined by HIPAA as:
Covered entities(new window)— any person or organization that has access to PHI. This includes healthcare providers, doctors, healthcare staff, pharmacies, healthcare clearinghouses, insurance companies, dentists, clinics, and nursing homes.
Business associates(new window) — any person or organization that performs a service or other activity for a covered entity that gives it access to PHI. This includes email providers, cloud storage providers, physical storage providers, billing and finance companies, lawyers, accountants, third-party consultants, and Electronic Health Record (EHR) platforms.
In short, any business or any individual acting in a professional capacity that has any contact with the healthcare industry must be HIPAA compliant.
HIPAA rules
HIPAA contains multiple regulations, but the key rules everyone should be aware of are:
HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Rule(new window) and the HIPAA Security Rule (see below) together provide the foundations of HIPAA. The Privacy Rule only applies to covered entities (not business associates). It defines in detail what data constitutes PHI and explains how and when covered entities can access it.
The Privacy Rule also explains patients’ rights to access their own PHI, and the circumstances under which such access can be denied.
HIPAA Security Rule
The HIPAA Security Rule(new window) applies to both covered entities and business associates and defines the physical, electronic, and administrative protections that must be in place for storing, handling, and transmitting PHI in electronic form (EPHI).
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule(new window) requires covered entities to notify individuals within 60 days if their PHI has been improperly accessed and stipulates other actions that must be performed in such an event.
Meaningful Breaches — any breach that affects over 500 individuals must be reported to the OCR within 60 days. Local law enforcement agencies must also be contacted immediately, and a press release must be prepared in order to alert potential victims about the situation.
HIPAA Omnibus Rule
An important update to HIPAA, the Omnibus Rule(new window) clarifies and updates the previous rules. Most importantly, it greatly expands the definition of business associates who must be HIPAA compliant to almost all entities that have any contact whatsoever with PHI. This includes subcontractors, storage consultants, and storage providers.
The Omnibus Rule rule also prohibits covered entities and business associates from exploiting PHI for marketing or other commercial purposes.
HIPAA Enforcement Rule
As its name suggests, the HIPAA Enforcement Rule explains how companies should handle HIPAA violations, be they the result of incompetence, negligence, or malicious actions by a third party. All violations must be reported to the OCR.
HIPAA violations
HIPAA violations are investigated by the HSS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which has the power to levy fines against offenders. We discuss HIPAA violations(new window) in detail in a separate article.
Why HIPAA compliance is important
For patients
HIPAA provides a raft of safeguards that protect the privacy and security of patients’ data. Without it, there would be no legal requirements for healthcare entities to provide such protections and no negative consequences for privacy breaches.
It specifies rules about who has access to patient’s data, how that data is stored, and who it can be shared with.
HIPAA also ensures that patients have a degree of control over their own medical data. It allows them to access their own medical records and have a say in who their data is shared with.
Importantly, HIPAA allows patients to correct mistakes in their medical records that could have big consequences on their insurance payments.
For healthcare providers
With fines of up to $1.5 million, non-compliance can be expensive.
HIPAA compliance is critical to the reputation of any healthcare-related service, and HIPAA violations are likely to have a large negative impact on customers’ and potential customers’ confidence in the service.
Patients are less likely to withhold personal and sensitive information that might affect accurate diagnosis when they are confident that their data is secure.
PHI can be easily and securely transferred between HIPAA-compliant entities. This is in sharp contrast to the situation before HIPAA, when healthcare providers were under no obligation to share patients’ records.
Because all HIPAA-compliant entities work to the same security standards, different healthcare services can work together with greater efficiency.
Recent updates to HIPAA legislation
It has been seven years since any major updates were made to HIPAA Rules, and many now feel that some changes are long overdue. After a very slow 2019, hopes were high that some movement might be achieved in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic has placed such plans on a backburner.
The most important new developments in the health sector are due not to HIPAA, but to the
The CARES Act also introduces new rules on the sharing substance abuse disorder (SUD) records for patients, while still complying with HIPAA.
A number of major updates to HIPAA were expected in 2020. These included improvements to how HIPAA violations are enforced, an updated penalty structure for violations, and new legislation aimed at tackling the opioid abuse epidemic currently plaguing America (notably, aligning HIPAA with the 42 CFR Part 2(new window) regulations that protect SUD records).
The HSS was also debating the implementation of a permanent audit structure, and the OCR is considering changing the Privacy Rule to make sharing PHI between healthcare providers mandatory, rather than simply allowed.
No updates to HIPAA legislation have been made in response to COVID-19, but the OCR has announced three Notices of Enforcement Discretion that relax how it will enforce HIPAA violations during the pandemic:
Remote consultations over the internet that avoid in-person contact have become a vital means of providing healthcare during the pandemic. Unfortunately, many of the video-conferencing and other remote networking platforms used to provide such care fall short of the levels of security usually expected for HIPAA compliance.
This Notification of Enforcement Discretion addresses the problem by stating that “OCR is exercising its enforcement discretion to not impose penalties for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth using such non-public facing audio or video communication products during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.”
This announcement states that the OCR will waive violations of “of certain provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule” relating to public health and health oversight activities by business associates acting in good faith.
This notice waives HIPAA violations for covered entities and business associates at COVID-19 drive-through testing sites.
FAQ
What does HIPAA compliance mean?
HIPAA compliance is the proactive process of adhering the HIPAA regulations designed to protect the medical data of patients in the United States.
Who is required to be HIPAA compliant
HIPAA defines every individual or organization that comes into contact with protected health information (PHI) as either covered entities (primary healthcare providers and services) or business associates (any entity that has secondary contact with PHI).There are different compliance requirements for each group.
What happens if I am not HIPAA compliant?
HIPAA defines every individual or organization that comes into contact with protected health information (PHI) as either covered entities (primary healthcare providers and services) or business associates (any entity that has secondary contact with PHI).There are different compliance requirements for each group.
HIPAA defines every individual or organization that comes into contact with protected health information (PHI) as either covered entities (primary healthcare providers and services) or business associates (any entity that has secondary contact with PHI).There are different compliance requirements for each group.
What happens if I am not HIPAA compliant?
HIPAA violations can result in fines of up to $50,000 per day per violation. Please see HIPAA violations(new window) for more details.
What are three major things addressed in the HIPAA law?
1. Privacy of medical data 2. Security of medical data 3. Penalties for HIPAA violations
COVID-19 has put great strain on all healthcare services and creates new challenges for entities that wish to remain HIPAA compliant during the pandemic. These challenges include:
– Increased patient numbers after lockdown — after long periods during which routine services have been suspended, healthcare services can become overwhelmed by patients seeking appointments when lockdown restrictions end. This can create an environment where it is easy for HIPAA compliance violations to occur.
– Complex interactions between healthcare services — during the pandemic and its aftermath, patents may use multiple healthcare services. They may change their doctor because increased patient numbers mean that no appointments are available, they may be waiting on test results which are processed by multiple labs, or they may require repeated visits to their hospital (which itself may be struggling with high patent turnover).
– Telehealth visits — we discuss this issue in the recent updates section above. The enforcement office, the OCR, has proactively addressed it by issuing a Notice of Enforcement Discretion.
Who is responsible for HIPAA?
HIPAA is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) and enforced by the HSS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
What is the difference between the HIPAA Privacy and Security rules?
HIPAA is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) and enforced by the HSS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
What are required and addressable rules?
As its name suggests, a required rule is compulsory for all covered entities and business associates in order to remain HIPAA compliant. An addressable rule gives entities more flexibility in how to comply with the rule, implementation of which is often based on the size of the company.
What is a business associate agreement?
A business associate agreement (BAA) is a contract between a covered entity and any business associate that it shares PHI with. BAAs must meet HIPAA compliance requirements, but also address the specific contractual requirements of the participating entities.
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