Cloud Protects PHI with Encryption from Front End to Back Up

Online Tech launched an innovative approach to securing patient data by incorporating encryption at the very core of its cloud and backup infrastructure to protect PHI from the front-end of patient portals all the way to the data at rest in offsite disaster recovery environments. This approach means PHI is never in an unencrypted state. Furthermore, “encryption at the core” doesn’t incur the performance sacrifices or administrative penalties that 3rd party or “bolted-on” encryption involves.

Online Tech’s end-to-end encryption addresses one of the most disturbing discoveries by the OCR: encryption is often completely overlooked or not included at the point of implementation.

“Encrypting patient data throughout its lifecycle is a key strategy for a defense-in-depth approach to HIPAA compliance and protecting PHI. The proliferation of cloud-based healthcare apps and the use of mobile devices by care providers demands new levels of protection. Unfortunately, encryption is not always straightforward or without costs. As such, it remains one of the most widespread areas of non-compliance for healthcare organization,” said April Sage, Director Healthcare IT, CPHIMS. “At HIMSS 2014, Online Tech will be a resource to healthcare companies that want to leverage the cloud, without sacrificing data security.”

“Online Tech’s expertise in HIPAA compliant data centers has been very important for helping CoherentRx build the right foundation for our healthcare apps, which helps doctors communicate more effectively with patients and help patients better understand the care they are receiving,” said Tom Hartle, Founder of CoherentRx. “Online Tech has HIPAA expertise and compliant services that help us ensure the security of patient information in our app, and the company’s fully redundant infrastructure ensures that our app is always available when doctors need them.”

Online Tech will share best practices for addressing these security and compliance challenges in the cloud at HIMSS booth #3904. Throughout the event, Online Tech will have Enterprise Architects available for one-on-one consultations with companies seeking advice and best practices for health IT architecture, compliance strategies and security for PHI. Security and healthcare attorney Tatiana Melnik, will be dropping by the booth to answer questions about compliance in the cloud during HIMSS 2014. Melnik co-presents a HIMSS educational session on February 24 with the IRS’ Jim Robnett entitled, “Identity Fraud and Data Breaches: Criminal and Civil Enforcement Efforts.”

“One of the key issues facing healthcare CIOs is the security of patient information in from end-to-end. We want to protect PHI from the point of access in the cloud by mobile devices, all the way to its long-term storage destination for disaster recovery protection. Each stage of its lifecycle is a challenge that can lead to non-compliance with HIPAA, making this an urgent issue to resolve,” said Mike Klein, co-CEO of Online Tech. “At HIMSS, we will demonstrate how end-to-end encryption solves that non-compliance challenge and keeps confidential patient information secure.”

Online Tech will put a spotlight on customer stories during HIMSS, allowing healthcare organizations like CoherentRx, Annkissam and Rimage Designs to tell their stories about protecting PHI and demonstrating compliance with the encryption requirements of HIPAA. This video of instaRounds CEO & Founder Kurian Thott gives a preview of the case studies that Online Tech will highlight at the event.

For more information about Online Tech’s data center facilities and its encrypted, compliant cloud and colocation services, visit https://otavawebsite.wpengine.com.

About Online Tech

Online Tech leads in secure, compliant enterprise-class hosting services. Online Tech’s Midwest data centers protect mission critical applications to ensure they are always available, secure, and comply with government & industry regulations. Backed by independent HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 and Safe Harbor audits, Online Tech delivers exceptional experiences for companies in need of a strategic hosting partner. For more information, call (877)740-5028, email [email protected] or visit www.onlinetech.com.