HIPAA Law and Data Breach Notification: Requirements and Best Practices for Reporting

In order to maintain the accuracy of patients’ Protected Health Information, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA Law) is a federal statute in the United States that is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees HIPAA compliance, is aware that occasionally security incidents can affect even the most secure firms with the best security protocols, cutting-edge software, and well-trained staff.

The HIPAA breach notification rule specifies the procedures that must be followed by the company after a breach. If you don’t comply, you risk being charged with a crime and paying hefty fines. It is crucial for a company handling sensitive medical data to understand what constitutes a breach.

Steps to follow after the breach

Step 1: Set a Timeline for Issuing Breach Notifications

Upon learning of a breach, HIPAA notification must be sent within 60 days. The only time information transmission must be paused is when the organization is the subject of a federal investigation or has been instructed by the government not to tell the individuals.

The breach communique must be distributed as soon as feasible in order to adhere to the breach notification rule. Even though the notice was sent within the 60-day limit, the HHS has been known to penalize organizations for sending out delayed notifications.

Step 2: Alert Anyone Affected by the Breach

Depending on the patient’s preferred method of communication, the institution must use either a first-class mailing service or email to deliver written notifications to everyone affected by the incident.

Over a period of 90 days following breach detection, they should also set up a hotline where patients can call to see if their PHI has been affected.

Step 3: Inform the Media Organizations of the Breach.

Imagine if more than 500 people were impacted by the data breach. In that instance, the group should issue a press release and ask local media outlets to broadcast or broadcast this message in the region in which the organization works.

All of the data sets from the written communiqué should be included in this notification.

After the incident date, organizations have 60 calendar days to release this media statement. If you don’t comply, you could face serious administrative fines, criminal charges, or both.

Step 4: Show the Website’s Breach Notice

If there is a breach and the organization doesn’t have the most recent contact information for more than ten people, it is required to issue a notice about the breach on its official company website. This warning ought to include a link to a page that describes the specifics of the security breach.

This announcement ought to be available for 90 days.

In a different case, if the organization does not have up-to-date contact information for less than ten affected people, they may choose to use alternative methods, such as contacting or emailing them.