When Mac McMillan, CISSP, CEO of CynergisTek in Austin, TX, picked up the phone recently, he had a very nervous hospital administrator on the other end.
HIPAA and HITECH have resulted in a whole new career for Tom Dumez, CHP. As human resources director at a records management company, Dumez's job in the last few years has taken a new direction-training others how to comply with HIPAA.
One of the three foundational security requirements is availability-the ability to access data when you really need it. Data accessibility is considered sound security practice and is a requirement per the HIPAA Security Rule (45 CFR 164.306[a][1]). If a data storage device fails, you can lose access to your patients' or health plan members' PHI. This could adversely affect patient care and service to health plan members.
