10 tools HealthTech custom software developers swear by to make their applications HIPAA compliant

Patient data or Protected Health Information (PHI) is acquired and utilized by health clinics, insurance companies, hospitals, and online applications to understand and offer relevant services and treatments to the customer. Since there are a lot of healthcare providers using the personal, sensitive data of patients, it is crucial for it to be protected to avoid it from falling into the wrong hands.

To facilitate the data storage centers, a bill was passed by the US government in 1996 to guard the information with the help of HIPAA- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The primary function of HIPAA is to prohibit all healthcare providers from misusing and disclosing sensitive patient information (collected online) like Biometrics, Name, Date of Birth, Social Security numbers, and Medical Records.

Today, many software development companies meet the data security compliances of HIPAA and assure complete confidentiality of patient information while developing custom software and BaaS (Backend-as-a-Service).

Our team of senior engineers at CognitiveClouds has prepared a comprehensive list of 10 tools they commonly use to make their applications HIPAA compliant.

Reactive Cloud Infrastructure Security & Compliance

Historically, compliance solutions are reactive where they look for issues in the code you deployed to production. So, if your developer introduces a bug that makes the code no longer compliant with HIPAA, your monitoring solution will alert your systems that you’re out of compliance. This approach works, but it also means that hackers have a chance to exploit the compliance issue before it’s fixed.

1. Netwrix

Netwrix is a data security application company that develops high-end security software solutions, i.e., administrative and technical safeguards, to help application developers ensure HIPAA compliance. The company provides clients with the ability to conduct risk assessments, arrange for online HIPAA management training sessions and use security features that are tailor-made according to the exact requirements of the HIPAA guidelines for health providers.

It provides visibility into on-premise as well as cloud-based hospital management systems that store patient data and control over user actions. The application excels at reducing security threats in the areas of account management, data governance, and data permissions.

2. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

A commonly chosen HIPAA compliance tool used to collect information and generate compliance reports and audit logs within your IT systems is the SolarWinds Security Event Manager. Its Event Log Correlation is an automated tool that detects anomalous behavior and takes action against it without manual input.

The software offers its customers the ability to create HIPAA compliance reports using visual aid such as graphs and charts for better understanding and data organization. However, it is popular for its internal monitoring capabilities to detect threats to your data and give its users the option of monitoring user and system activities with a dashboard.

3. Secure Frame

Secure Frame is a compliance company that provides online service providers, especially healthcare institutions, with seamless and secure policies. The company specializes in HIPAA compliance and makes it easy for online healthcare platforms to protect their PHIs from cyber attacks by implementing a few guided steps.

Secure Frame assigns dedicated privacy officers to help build your application’s security policies and train your employees to be adept with the guidelines. The company also makes it easy to monitor vendors who can access the platform’s PHIs to ensure zero threats and easy management of the data. Additionally, SecureFrame offers its customers an easy way to send Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for businesses that want to access your stored PHI.

4. Vanta

Founded in 2016, Vanta is an automating security monitoring company for online businesses that want to secure their customer data with compliance certifications like SOC2, HIPAA, and ISO 27001. Vanta offers over 85% automation to help businesses, i.e., a SaaS development company in health tech, big data services, and healthcare platforms, protect their data and prove that they are HIPAA compliant.

The company offers compliance services like drafting policies and procedures to manage the PHI with the help of their templates and verifying vendors, and sending BAAs to associated businesses. It also collects all BAAs and stores them in one place for easy reference. It conducts security checks to ensure encrypted data storage and backup, integrity, and privacy of the PHIs.

5. TugBoat Logic Inc.

TugBoat Logic offers a compliance framework to online healthcare platforms to help them stay HIPAA compliant and protect their PHIs. The company provides pre-developed policy templates, controls, risks, employee attestation, and vendor management tools to ensure a practical and secure healthcare application. You can also track and maintain your application’s progress in being HIPAA compliant with TugBoat Logic’s Compliance Calendar.

Proactive Cloud Infrastructure Security & Compliance

There is a new breed of proactive compliance tools instead of reactive. They monitor cloud configurations and issues at the code level before deploying an application to production. So, if a problem is detected, it stops new code containing a compliance violation from being able to be sent to production. These tools ensure that applications maintain compliance from a technical perspective.

1. Aptible

Aptible is a Docker-based platform-as-a-service that checks your code for you before uploading it to the cloud. (Docker is open-source software that creates and deploys applications into containers on a common operating system.)

Aptible’s HIPAA-compliant app and database hosting ensures compliance by providing you with a secure platform and the required tools. Its HIPAA-compliant infrastructure implements all infrastructure guidelines in the HIPAA guidelines for applications. It runs security audits on your backend code with convenient and easy-to-use controls. Aptible also provides your application with all necessary compliance features you may need, keeps your data secure, and obtain compliance certification.

2. MedStack

MedStack is known for its automated software for digital healthcare platforms to help them ensure the application is following the HIPAA guidelines to safeguard patient data.

MedStack is a secure platform that offers built-in privacy features, data encryption, certificate, key management, data storage, access monitoring, backup, and security protocols for healthcare institutions online. It also enables customers to build HIPAA-compliant environments that come with built-in privacy.

Tools for Building HIPAA Compliant Features

There are several tools that will sign a BAA with your company for an added cost. These tools offer features that would take your team 3+ months to develop as a standalone application.

1. Files.com

Encrypted, cloud-based file storage and management systems have been in huge demand, and to facilitate this, Files.com offers a wide range of file management services.

The company ensures safe file transfer and a promised compatibility with all cloud platforms and offline servers.

Files.com can be integrated with Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Dropbox, and many other cloud services. It also supports most file transfer protocols such as FTP, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, etc., and encourages mega-sized file transfers up to 5TB.

2. JotForm

JotForm is a secure, encrypted online form-building tool that is most commonly used to create HIPAA compliant forms for healthcare websites, to collect related customer information. It is a suitable tool for HIPAA-compliant healthcare providers that collect patient data.

The tool provides over 500 user templates to choose from, including medical history, patient enrolment, and feedback forms. Additionally, the tool offers customers the option of uploading digital signatures and images and payment forms for patients to pay for healthcare services. Its automated workflows help users export data as PDFs and transfer it to a third party (e.g., patients or other health providers).

3. Mahalo Health

Mahalo Health is the first decentralized, unified e-health research platform for clinical trials and digital therapeutics (DTx) platform to help improve data collection, patient onboarding, and client retention.

Mahalo Health provides affordable research tools like a drag and drops survey builder and a secure cloud-hosted clinical data management platform to its clients for maximum convenience while creating medical research studies.

You can also import data from any source, such as existing Electronic Health Records (EHR), wearables, medical devices, and other electronic devices.

Conclusion

User authentication, access control, monitoring, and data encryption are the most critical factors in the HIPAA regulation checklist that ensure PHI safety for online applications.

At CognitiveClouds, we are well-versed with HIPAA regulations and understand the significance of data security and management. We create 100% HIPAA compliant, efficient, and customized software for our clients. Click here to learn more about our innovative IT solutions for the healthcare industry.