Use Case #3

Meet HIPAA and HITECH regulations for protecting patient data

Healthcare data theft is one of the largest growing criminal activities taking place today. Hospitals, healthcare professionals and organizations face an uphill battle trying to secure vital patient information, especially because it is often accessible via electronic format. Today sensitive patient data is travelling across various networks, workstations, laptops, insurance portals and a possible myriad of other electronic media outlets. If this data is not properly protected, it is likely to result in breach, loss, or worse, in the hands of someone with intent to commit malice. With state and federal governments increasingly involved in initiatives to regulate how patient information is shared, stored, accessed and utilized, protecting patient information is even more vital.

To assist healthcare industries in formulating plans to protect private patient data and reduce the risk of information breaches, the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology Act (HITECH Act) were created. HIPAA includes administrative, technical and physical safeguards for patient records which sets the privacy standard. The HITECH Act requires healthcare organizations to move towards electronic records by the year 2014. Under HIPAA and HITECH, healthcare providers must comply with security parameters to protect access to information in transit, at rest, and in-use to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of patient information.

Sensitive information about patients is stored in data files. If those files are not encrypted, they are not protected. Prime Factors offers a solution that provides protection for sensitive data stored in files (or on databases) and provides sophisticated encryption for information at the field or record levels. Our software allows for the choice of strong encryption algorithms such as DES, 3DES and AES and offers robust key management to avoid unauthorized viewing of protected data. In addition, it supports special password generation and protection techniques, so the origin and integrity of data can be authenticated. Once protected, the file can only be opened with the proper password. File encryption and authentication offer complete protection, giving healthcare organizations confidence that they are complying with regulatory requirements and decreasing their risk of breach.

Several of our clients in the healthcare industry have implemented file encryption to protect patient information and meet HIPAA requirements, including leading providers of insurance and healthcare delivery systems who service thousands of individuals and institutions throughout the United States.