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According to the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR), there has been a considerable upward trend in healthcare data breaches since the office began tracking data breach statistics in 2009. Now more than ever, protecting patient data is paramount—and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is key to providing patients with security and privacy. HIPAA is a federal law passed in 1996 designed to protect patient health data. Covered entities, including healthcare providers, health insurance companies, healthcare clearinghouses, and any business associates of a covered entity that use or disclose protected health information (PHI), are required by law to comply with HIPAA.

The United States takes a very sectoral approach to data privacy regulations, which can often lead to confusion on what is expected for a SaaS company when they are handling personal information. When it comes to personal health information, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) has set the standard for data privacy going back more than 25 years. We sat down with HIPAA expert, Nick Accomando, to get his perspective on navigating some of the core aspects of HIPAA.