Wants to know your options for HIPAA compliant cloud storage?
In this article we’ll share best hipaa compliant cloud storage 2016. Well in today’s time when it has become unavoidable to use cloud storage to store your data, considering security while choosing the cloud storage has been most important factor specially when we’re planning to store Protected Health Information (PHI). No doubt cloud storage gives us the benefit to store data on a remote location and access it through any device with automated sync facility but is the cloud storage you’re using to store PHI is safe? does it meet the guidelines lay down by government? Is it HIPPA Compliant?
Unfortunately most of the popular cloud storage services are not HIPPA Compliant cloud storage services. Infact the most popular one Dropbox, Amazon Aws, and Apple’s iCloud is not HIPPA Compliant cloud storage.
“If you use a cloud service, it should be your business associate. If they refuse to sign a business associate agreement, don’t use the cloud service.”
Well the above statement clearly indicate that you’ve to be very alert while choosing a cloud hosting provider to store you PHI data.
While choosing a HIPPA Compliant cloud storage provider you should consider the following
- The cloud storage provider should provide you an easy to use software that can encrypt and synchronize your Windows, Linux and Mac PHI data between your devices and remote cloud storage.
- It should be affordable and should be billed monthly and allow you to cancel the subscription anytime if required and allow you to take backup of data before you cancel the subscription without any hassle.
- A 24*7 customer support is very important to be considered because you may need it anytime if you find any difficulty access you data.
- A business associate agreement should also be considered while you choose a HIPPA Compliant Cloud Storage.
- It should also be considered that how your cloud storage provider taking backups of your mission critical data. Today, no HIPAA “compliance certification” exists for backup applications, cloud storage, or disaster recovery services. Your service provider should be capable to take online backups adhering to the rules, guidelines particularly related to data encryption and secure data transfer.
Top 3 HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage Options
Below are the top 3 HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage providers that you can trust upon. We’ve chosen then after reading lots of reviews on internet.
#1 Egnyte
Click To Visit Egnyte Check Egnyte’s HIPAA Statement
Egnyte is empowering 40000+ businesses to store their files online & on premises. The cloud hosting provider offer HIPAA Compliant Hosting solution for on premises & on cloud. Here we will talk about their Cloud Based storage solution. Using the Egnyte cloud based hosting solution you can access your data through any device i.e mobile, tablet, pc and can collaborate with your employees and business partners. You can also use the solution to backup you PHI data at a secure place. Your data can be synchronized between cloud and on-premise storage.
The best part with Egnyte is, you can get a free trial before you actually buy the solution. They offer a special cloud storage solution for Healthcare and Life Sciences industry. Egnyte’s secure collaboration allows Prairie Psychological Services to share and manage files under HIPAA compliance.
#2 Carbonite
If you’re a healthcare or insurance professional your business likely needs to comply with federal regulations surrounding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly referred to as HIPAA. The act has been defined to protect personally identifiable health information. Carbonite is one of the top most HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage provider. Carbonite work with you as a business associates. Their Pro & Server Plans are HIPAA Compliant and has been specially tailored to meet the compliance need of Healthcare & Insurance businesses.
You can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Carbonite which is based on the federal government’s standard.
Carbonite is compliant with the Massachusetts Data Security Regulation (201 CMR 17). All customers of Carbonite gets the benefits of Massachusetts Data Security Regulation.
You can use Carbonite as Offsite backup tool for disaster recovery. Carbonite store all data in encrypted form. Their data centers are physically secure with protective measures that restrict personnel access using biometric scanners, electronic key cards, and PIN codes.
#3 BOX.COM
Box.Com is another trusted name in HIPAA Compliant cloud storage. It meet all the encryption & security requirement set by HIPAA. Like Carbonite, Box.com also sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). In order to support HIPAA compliance, Box has reviewed the HIPAA regulations and updated its product, policies and procedures to support customers around their need to be HIPAA compliant.
Other than signing a Business Associate Agreement to meet HIPAA Compliant, Box.com also store data in encrypted form. They also restrict physical access to production servers. They never allow their employees to access to customers data files. Box is also ISO 27001 certified, which means high level of security in data centers.
You can find more information about HIPAA Here Or Read How to choose a cloud hosting provider for Business.