HIPAA Compliance Services for Covered Entities & Business Associates

What a defensible HIPAA Security Risk Analysis actually looks like

The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to conduct an 'accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability' of ePHI. OCR has cited the absence - or inadequacy - of this analysis in nearly every major resolution agreement of the past decade, with settlements ranging from $25,000 to $16M.

Our SRA methodology follows NIST SP 800-30 and the HHS OCR Guidance: full ePHI inventory across systems, devices, and third parties; threat and vulnerability identification; likelihood and impact rating; current-control evaluation; residual-risk determination; and a documented Risk Management Plan tracked to closure. The deliverable is what OCR asks for - not a vendor checklist with a logo.

• ePHI inventory across all systems and BAs
• NIST 800-30 threat / vulnerability / likelihood / impact model
• Risk Management Plan with named owners and due dates
• Annual update with change-driven mid-year refreshes
• Audit-ready evidence file for OCR // HHS

Encryption, MFA, audit logs - the controls OCR settles on

Settlement themes are remarkably consistent: unencrypted laptops, missing MFA on remote access, absent audit logs, unpatched perimeter devices, and stale Business Associate Agreements. We deploy and operate the technical safeguards that close those exact gaps: ePHI encryption at rest and in transit (BitLocker // FileVault // TLS 1.2+), phishing-resistant MFA on every workforce and remote-access path, EHR audit logging with 6-year retention, EDR/MDR across the entire endpoint estate, and immutable backups with tested restore.

BAAs that are signed, current, and actually mapped to vendors

Almost every covered entity we onboard has BAAs they can't find, BAAs that pre-date HITECH, and vendors that handle ePHI without a BAA at all. We rebuild the BAA inventory from scratch, map every vendor that touches ePHI, escalate gaps, and operate a renewal / change workflow so the inventory stays current. Breach Notification Rule readiness - discovery, triage, 60-day reporting clock, OCR portal submission - is documented and rehearsed annually via tabletop.

How different industries put this service to work

Every regulated and growth-stage business we support has a slightly different reason for engaging this service. The common thread is that the risk, downtime, or compliance cost of doing nothing is now bigger than the cost of a specialized partner.

• Healthcare and behavioral health groups protecting PHI under HIPAA and the HHS cybersecurity performance goals
• Financial services, RIAs, and CPAs meeting FTC Safeguards, SEC, and state privacy requirements
• Manufacturers and defense suppliers preparing for CMMC 2.0 Level 1 and Level 2 assessments
• Law firms and professional services protecting client confidentiality and privileged data
• K-12, higher education, and public sector agencies defending student and constituent data
• Construction, real estate, and multi-site retail keeping distributed teams online and secure

What good looks like when you evaluate providers

Not every provider that lists this service on their website actually delivers it well. Use the checklist below when you shortlist partners so you can compare apples to apples and avoid the two most common traps: a low sticker price that hides scope gaps, and a polished sales cycle backed by an offshore delivery team you never meet.

If a prospective provider cannot answer these questions plainly and in writing, treat that as a signal. The right partner will welcome the scrutiny.

• Written SLAs with response and resolution targets, not just uptime
• Named senior engineers assigned to your account, not a shared queue
• US-based delivery with clear escalation paths and named leadership
• Transparent monthly reporting with metrics leadership actually cares about
• Security-first defaults: MFA, least privilege, and monitored change control
• Alignment to your compliance framework, not a generic template
• A real onboarding plan with milestones, not just a handoff email