What the HIPAA Compliance Updates Mean for Your Security
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has long been a cornerstone of safeguarding sensitive health information in the U.S., particularly electronic protected health information (ePHI). As healthcare organizations continue to face growing cybersecurity challenges, ensuring the protection of ePHI has never been more critical.
In response, for the first time in two decades, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed significant amendments to the HIPAA Security Rule, aimed at strengthening cybersecurity measures across the healthcare sector. These proposed changes are designed to address emerging threats and ensure that healthcare organizations have robust systems in place to protect patient data from unauthorized access and potential breaches. This blog presents the major changes that are coming soon and how you can prepare for them.
Instead of considering compliance as a one-time effort, with Sentra you can monitor your compliance status at any given moment, streamline reporting, and remediate compliance violations instantly.
How Sentra Can Help You Stay Compliant
Sentra’s data security platform equips healthcare organizations with the necessary tools to stay compliant with the new HIPAA Security Rule amendments. By providing continuous monitoring of ePHI data locations and assessing associated risks, Sentra helps organizations maintain full visibility and control over sensitive data.
Key Benefits of Using Sentra for HIPAA Compliance:
- Automated Data Discovery & Classification: Instantly locate and classify ePHI across cloud and on-prem environments.
- Real-time Risk Assessment: Continuously assess vulnerabilities and flag security gaps related to HIPAA requirements.
- Access Control & Encryption Monitoring: Ensure compliance with mandatory MFA, encryption policies, and access termination requirements.
- Smart Compliance Alerts: Sentra doesn’t just detect generic cloud misconfigurations. Instead, it pinpoints security issues affecting sensitive data, helping teams focus on what truly matters.
Without a solution such as Sentra, organizations waste valuable time manually searching for and classifying sensitive data, diverting key employees from higher-priority security tasks. With Sentra, security teams gain an ongoing, real-time dashboard that ensures efficient compliance and faster risk mitigation.
What You Need to Know About the Proposed HIPAA Security Rule Updates
The latest proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule represent some of the most significant changes in years. These updates aim to modernize data protection practices and ensure healthcare organizations are better equipped to handle today’s security challenges. Below are the key highlights compliance and security teams should focus on:
Mandatory Implementation Specifications
All implementation specifications under the HIPAA Security Rule will become mandatory. Covered entities and business associates must now fully comply with all safeguards—no more "addressable" exceptions.
Stricter Encryption Requirements
Encryption of electronic protected health information (ePHI) will be required both at rest and in transit. Organizations must ensure encryption is in place across all systems handling sensitive data.
Required Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
MFA will become mandatory to protect access to ePHI. This added security layer significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access and credential compromise.
Network Segmentation for Threat Containment
Organizations must implement network segmentation to isolate sensitive systems and limit the spread of cyber threats in the event of a breach.
Timely Termination of Access
Access to ePHI must be revoked within 24 hours when an employee leaves or changes roles. This reduces the risk of insider threats and unauthorized access.
Comprehensive Documentation Requirements
Healthcare organizations must maintain detailed, up-to-date documentation of all security policies, procedures, risk assessments, and incident response plans.
Asset Inventories and Network Mapping
Annual updates to technology asset inventories and network maps will be required to ensure accurate tracking of where and how ePHI is stored and transmitted.
Enhanced Risk Analysis
Organizations must conduct regular, thorough risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and assess threats across all systems that interact with ePHI.
Stronger Incident Response Plans
Entities must be able to restore lost systems and data within 72 hours after a cyber incident. Regular testing and refinement of incident response protocols will be essential.
Annual Compliance Audits
Healthcare organizations will be required to conduct annual audits of their HIPAA Security Rule compliance, covering all technical and administrative safeguards.
Mandatory Technical Controls
Technical safeguards like anti-malware tools, firewalls, and port restrictions must be in place and regularly reviewed to protect systems from evolving threats.
What’s Next?
The proposed changes to the HIPAA Security Rule are currently in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stage, with a 60-day public comment period that opened on January 6, 2025. During this period, stakeholders can provide feedback on the amendments, which may influence the final rule. Organizations should actively monitor the comment period, engage in the feedback process, and stay informed on any potential adjustments before the rule is finalized.
Steps Organizations Should Take Now:
- Review the proposed changes and understand how they impact your current security posture.
- Engage in the public comment process to share concerns or recommendations.
- Start assessing security gaps to align with HIPAA’s evolving compliance requirements.
Conclusion
The new HIPAA compliance amendments represent a major shift in how healthcare organizations must protect electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI). The introduction of enhanced encryption standards, mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA), and stricter access control measures means organizations must act swiftly to maintain compliance and reduce cybersecurity risks.
Compliance is not just about meeting regulations, it is about efficiency. Organizations relying on manual processes to locate and secure sensitive data waste valuable time and resources, making compliance efforts less effective.
With Sentra, healthcare organizations gain a powerful, automated data security solution that:
- Eliminates manual data discovery by providing a real-time, continuous inventory of sensitive data.
- Prioritizes relevant data security risks instead of overwhelming teams with unnecessary alerts.
- Ensures compliance readiness by automating key processes like access control monitoring and encryption verification.
Now is the time for healthcare organizations to take proactive steps toward compliance. Stay informed, participate in the public comment process, and start implementing security enhancements today.
To learn how Sentra can help your organization achieve HIPAA compliance efficiently, request a demo today and take control of your sensitive data.
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David Stuart is Senior Director of Product Marketing for Sentra, a leading cloud-native data security platform provider, where he is responsible for product and launch planning, content creation, and analyst relations. Dave is a 20+ year security industry veteran having held product and marketing management positions at industry luminary companies such as Symantec, Sourcefire, Cisco, Tenable, and ZeroFox. Dave holds a BSEE/CS from University of Illinois, and an MBA from Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
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