Streamlining HIPAA Technical Safeguard Compliance with Satori

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets the standard for sensitive patient data protection. Any organization involved with electronic healthcare information (e-PHI) must meet HIPAA requirements as part of the cost of doing business. 

HIPAA compliance is essential to keep sensitive e-PHI data secured and avoid failing an audit. Besides the financial costs, non-compliance results in a number of costs including damage to an organization’s reputation and brand. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain HIPAA compliance to safeguard patient privacy and retain stakeholders’ trust. 

Satori’s Data Security Platform enables covered organizations to implement the necessary technical safeguards to protect e-PHI. Covered organizations refer to healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. Satori provides a quick and easy solution to achieve HIPAA compliance while improving productivity and reducing costs. 

The HIPAA Security Rule requires data-driven organizations that handle e-PHI to implement technical, physical and administrative safeguards. The purpose of these safeguards is to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of sensitive e-PHI data. 

While compliance with all three safeguards is necessary, the HIPAA technical safeguards are less straightforward and pose significant challenges for organizations because they require a comprehensive approach. These complications arise from the complexity of the IT systems, constantly evolving technology, and the time and resource burdens associated with implementing and maintaining the technical safeguards.

HIPAA Covered organizations often have complex IT systems with numerous interconnected components and data stores. Coupled with evolving technology and the emergence of new threats covered organizations struggle to keep up with these changes and adapt security measures accordingly. Implementing and maintaining robust technical safeguards can require a significant investment of time and money. 

Complying with the HIPAA technical safeguards requires a comprehensive approach that includes ongoing risk assessments, regular security testing, and continuous training and awareness efforts. Ensuring that all of these components are secure and compliant with HIPAA technical safeguards can be a daunting task.

There are a number of different technical safeguards required by HIPAA to protect e-PHI. Satori can enable organizations to meet each of these individual safeguards as outlined below.

1. Access Controls: Satori’s JIT access controls, data portal, and convenient alerts help covered organizations limit and specify access to data; additionally user identification, emergency access procedures, and automatic logoffs further address this safeguard. 
2. Audit Controls: Satori’s detailed unified access logs and data access connectors track data access and display it in a centralized location. The high level of visibility allows covered organizations to analyze user activity and access rules.
3. Integrity Controls: Organizations can enforce data security policies and analyze all audit logs to ensure the implementation of necessary security policies using Satori.
4. Authentication Controls: Satori designates two types of users to verify the individual seeking access to e-PHI. Using Satori’s temporary access to data and temporary credentials further enhances security.
5. Transmission Controls: Organizations can use Satori to implement policy enforcement and obtain high visibility. Additionally, dynamic masking protects sensitive data by continuously discovering, anonymizing, redacting, and masking data based on security policies.

Satori offers the ability to achieve and maintain HIPAA compliance without straining engineering resources. Satori’s just-in-time access controls, Data Access Controller and Access Manager cover both access control and audit requirements. They are implemented as a layer on top of the existing data infrastructure. These features reduce the number of DevOps, data engineering and security engineering full-time employees required to implement and monitor compliance, saving resources and reducing organizational costs.

Satori’s Data Security Platform is flexible, scalable, and easy to implement as an add-on to existing data technology stacks. This enables organizations to restrict access, audit and monitor e-PHI usage and implement security policies quickly. Satori helps organizations meet HIPAA technical requirements faster and reduces the time and resources necessary to maintain compliance.

Satori optimizes productivity for covered organizations by automating the lifecycle of data access, eliminating the use of manual permissions, and integrating natively with the data environment. Using Satori, organizations can easily and quickly share information, including sensitive e-PHI data enabling faster critical, often time-saving, information sharing. 

Satori’s automated secure access to data and continuous dynamic masking means that data engineers no longer have to spend a significant part of their time on manually searching for and locating sensitive data and granting and revoking access. 

The ability to quickly and securely share information reduces the amount of time and resources required to remain compliant with HIPAA technical safeguards.

For HIPAA-covered organizations, compliance is necessary to reduce the likelihood of a security event. Every organization can meet its HIPAA requirements, the question is, how much is this going to cost? 

Satori helps organizations achieve HIPAA technical safeguard compliance without straining engineering resources. Satori is implemented as an add-on to the existing data infrastructure reducing the number of DevOps, data engineering, and security engineering hours necessary to implement and monitor compliance, saving resources and decreasing organizational costs. 

Read more about the Benefits of a Consolidated Data Access Platform and How Automating Access to Data Enhances Customer Engagement & Trust. 

One of the main use cases is Satori’s monitoring of databases containing e-PHI. Satori provides detailed access and audit logs across multiple data stores and ensures that access to data is secured to prevent data breaches. Additionally, Satori provides the ability to grant temporary access to sensitive data and automatically revoke this access.

Another use case for Satori is controlling access to sensitive e-PHI data. Satori provides the ability to block data access or apply differential privacy to all data access to sensitive data. Satori identifies individual end-users, imposes applicable access controls, audits, and monitors their use of data, and masks sensitive data based on user access privileges. 

An example of Satori’s effectiveness is its successful deployment of a data security solution for Innovaceer, where Satori detected and masked sensitive patient data, provided detailed monitoring and auditing logs, and ensured that Innovaceer met HIPAA compliance requirements. Read the full case study here.

Satori’s Data Security Platform helps covered organizations meet HIPAA technical safeguards. Satori’s capabilities include just-in-time access controls, detailed access and audit logs, easy application of security policies, continuous searching and location of sensitive data, identifying individual end-users, and dynamically mask sensitive data. 

Satori provides organizations with a way to secure data and access and enable compliance with HIPAA’s technical safeguards. To learn more about how Satori can help your organization become and remain compliant with HIPAA’s technical safeguards book a demo with one of our experts.