HIPAA + HITECH: PHI Handled, Evidenced, Defensible

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule, along with the HITECH Act, define how healthcare organizations and business associates protect and manage Protected Health Information (PHI).

These regulations cover everything from access controls and audit logging to breach reporting and patient rights. The proposed 2024 HIPAA Security Rule updates also introduce stronger expectations around encryption, multifactor authentication, and cybersecurity practices.

TeamSync helps organizations manage PHI, security controls, compliance documentation, and audit records from a single platform.

What HIPAA And HITECH Require

• Privacy Rule (45 CFR Part 164 Subpart E): governs uses and disclosures of PHI, the minimum-necessary standard, and individual rights (access, amendment, accounting of disclosures, restriction)

• Security Rule (45 CFR Part 164 Subpart C): administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, it include access control, audit controls, integrity, person/entity authentication, and transmission security

• Breach Notification Rule (45 CFR Part 164 Subpart D): requires notifying individuals, HHS, and (for larger incidents) the media when 500 or more people are affected, based on a risk-of-harm analysis

• HITECH: increases penalties, extends direct liability to business associates, mandates breach notification, and encourages meaningful use of EHRs

• 2024 NPRM (proposed): would make encryption mandatory rather than "addressable," and add MFA requirements, regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, network segmentation, anti-malware protection, and asset inventory

How TeamSync Supports HIPAA And HITECH Compliance

1. PHI as a classified, policy-controlled content type
PHI is tagged at the point of capture. Minimum-necessary access is enforced through RBAC and Backup, and access is logged to support accounting-of-disclosures requests.

2. Technical safeguards, built in
Access control includes unique user identification, emergency access procedures, and automatic logoff. Audit controls log every event and anchor it cryptographically. Integrity is maintained through hashing and version control. Authentication is MFA-bound and integrates with your identity provider. Transmission security uses TLS 1.3 along with at-rest encryption.

3. A structured workflow for breach analysis and notification
A suspected incident triggers intake, followed by a four-factor risk-of-harm analysis, generation of the required notification packages (to individuals, HHS, and media as needed), and tracked post-incident remediation.

4. Crypto-shred for individual-rights requests
Supports the right to restrict (§164.522) and HITECH-extended individual access rights, along with erasure-style requests under state laws like CCPA, using crypto-shred.

5. Backed by signed BAAs
TeamSync executes Business Associate Agreements and maintains subcontractor BAAs, with HIPAA-relevant SOC 2 Type II and HITRUST evidence available.

6. Ready for the 2024 NPRM's stricter controls
Encryption applied universally rather than only where "addressable," enforced MFA, regular vulnerability and penetration testing, network segmentation, and asset inventory.

What Customers Get

Related Rules And Frameworks

• CCPA and state privacy laws: Analogous individual rights

• HITRUST CSF: Aligned implementation framework

• NIST SP 800-66: HIPAA Security Rule implementation guidance

• 42 CFR Part 2 (substance use disorder records): An adjacent, stricter regime

Who This Page Is For

• HLS CISO

• Chief Quality Officer (HLS)

• CMIO