Log Monitoring HIPAA Compliance Software
Analyze audit logs and access reports with HIPAA IT compliance software
HIPAA regulations require companies to regularly review all information system activities, including those within their audit logs and access reports, typically by using a Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) solution.
SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) helps streamline this process by allowing you to forward audit logs from all of your applications, servers, network devices, routers, and beyond directly to its platform. Here, you can easily monitor and analyze real-time log data and report on system activity. Keeping everything housed in a single, easy-to-access location can help boost productivity and avoid having to manually pull logs from individual systems.
Demonstrate HIPAA IT compliance with ease
No single product will make you HIPAA compliant. When implementing software to help your organization be HIPAA compliant, make sure you understand the details of what you need to collect and how you need to report it.
SolarWinds SEM provides hundreds of built-in, out-of-the-box reporting templates that can be customized to a specific department or recipient, designed to allow you to demonstrate HIPAA requirements with ease. Collecting data from all required devices for reporting purposes is also a straightforward task with Security Event Manager. Simply install an agent on the servers you need to collect logs from or configure the device to send syslog data, then configure a connector to log and store exactly what you need. Each report supports detailed forensic analyses that can be displayed graphically and in an easy-to-digest format that helps enhance your data.
Accelerate your response to security threats
Security Event Manager features built-in Active Response technology to automate threat remediation and incident response in real time. This technology can be leveraged to lock IPs, change privileges, disable accounts, block USB devices, kill applications, and more.
With hundreds of built-in correlation rules and powerful file integrity monitoring, SEM is designed to allow event logs to be easily analyzed for a range of malicious system activities, including: insider threats, zero-day malware, ransomware, spear phishing, botnets, SQL injections, DDoS, other advanced attacks.
The compliance tool features in SEM are built to provide you with the in-depth security intelligence needed to stop cybersecurity threats in their tracks and ensure the privacy and security of your data, so you remain HIPAA compliant.
What is HIPAA compliance?
As the healthcare industry evolves at a rapid rate, many technological advancements have emerged to store and transfer patient data. In tandem with the development of these technologies over the past few decades, many new policies have surfaced to maintain the integrity of health records, protect them from looming hackers or accidental data leaks, and regulate who has access to this information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is one of those policies.
Established by Congress in 1996, HIPAA oversees how highly sensitive patient data is stored, transferred, and updated. This applies to a range of digital formats, including syslog, custom application logs, XML, and HL7. HIPAA consists of two rules—the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule—which together outline how all Protected Health Information (PHI) should be handled amidst this digital revolution. If not met to the highest extent—even if unintentionally—HIPAA officials will serve large fines. Legally, financially, and morally, IT departments must understand the nuances of HIPAA or risk facing severe consequences. In fact, the HIPAA fines can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands and even millions of dollars depending on the violation.
What are HIPAA requirements?
HIPAA requirements outline the technical measures that all companies must have in place to ensure the privacy and safety of all patient data, especially if a data breach or accidental leak occurs. More specifically, these requirements mandate that large companies and private practitioners alike must comply with all transaction and code regulations for electronic health records and have a unique National Provider Identifier.
But before IT professionals can truly grasp HIPAA privacy and security standards specific to the IT industry, they must have a sound understanding of general HIPAA requirements. This is where the HIPAA compliance checklist comes into play. Developed by the Office of Inspector General under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HIPAA compliance checklist outlines seven actions all companies must conduct to remain HIPAA compliant:
- Implement written policies, procedures, and standards of conduct.
- Designate a compliance officer and committee.
- Conduct effective training and education.
- Develop effective lines of communication.
- Conduct internal monitoring and auditing.
- Enforce standards through well-publicized disciplinary guidelines.
- Respond promptly to detected offenses and undertake corrective action.
Both the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule speak directly to IT administrators and must be fully understood and adopted by all IT professionals. The Privacy Rule pertains specifically to the handling of health data related to an individual’s physical or mental health at any period in their life, as well as the type of care they received and any payment details pertaining to their care. The Security Rule, on the other hand, outlines the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards companies must implement pertaining to electronic personal health information.
What is a HIPAA audit?
The HHS is charged with enforcing the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule through HIPAA audits, which ensure compliance through HIPAA reporting submitted by any covered entity (CE) or business associate (BA) organizations. To fulfill the functions of a CE or a BA, you need to know your relationship to PHI, the regulations by which you are governed, and the processes you must perform in a HIPAA audit.
To avoid HIPAA violation risks and help demonstrate compliance in HIPAA audits, many companies leverage HIPAA compliance software that can automate security measures, perform risk assessments, and create HIPAA audit reports. HIPAA compliance software can also help you put audit controls in place, which take the form of hardware, software, or procedures that record and analyze any system activity that contains electronic protected health information (ePHI). Audit trails, as a result of audit controls, build compliance documentation and create records that can be used to investigate file access and changes.
What is HIPAA compliance software?
HIPAA compliance software exists to help ensure that business IT teams are doing all they can to protect patient and medical staff data. While sensitive data is used and shared in some circumstances, it should only be made available in appropriate contexts, for appropriate recipients. HIPAA compliance software collects, catalogs, and correlates log and event data in real time from anywhere data is generated across your network. Realtime log analysis and cross-device data correlation empowers admins to discover potential HIPAA violations, identify data breaches, and pinpoint threats. By storing all of this data in one, easy-to-access location, you can quickly pull log data into comprehensive, visual reports that demonstrate compliance with all HIPAA policies and procedures. Some HIPAA compliance software can even be leveraged to evaluate the safety and security of files in real time. This helps ensure more comprehensive protection against a variety of cyberattacks that can put HIPAA-sensitive information at risk.
Related Features and Tools
Other SolarWinds Tools to Help Demonstrate HIPAA Compliance:
Related Features:
- What is HIPAA compliance?
- What are HIPAA requirements?
- What is a HIPAA audit?
- What is HIPAA compliance software?
- Related Features and Tools
What is HIPAA compliance?
As the healthcare industry evolves at a rapid rate, many technological advancements have emerged to store and transfer patient data. In tandem with the development of these technologies over the past few decades, many new policies have surfaced to maintain the integrity of health records, protect them from looming hackers or accidental data leaks, and regulate who has access to this information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is one of those policies.
Established by Congress in 1996, HIPAA oversees how highly sensitive patient data is stored, transferred, and updated. This applies to a range of digital formats, including syslog, custom application logs, XML, and HL7. HIPAA consists of two rules—the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule—which together outline how all Protected Health Information (PHI) should be handled amidst this digital revolution. If not met to the highest extent—even if unintentionally—HIPAA officials will serve large fines. Legally, financially, and morally, IT departments must understand the nuances of HIPAA or risk facing severe consequences. In fact, the HIPAA fines can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands and even millions of dollars depending on the violation.
HIPAA IT Compliance
Security Event Manager
- Achieving auditable HIPAA compliance across industry-specific IT regulatory frameworks is no easy task.
- A lag in the ability to detect and respond to a security threat can be costly for businesses of all sizes.
- The effectiveness of your security initiatives is largely dependent on your ability to quickly respond to security threats.