Google Workspace features many useful applications, such as Gmail, Calendar, Keep, and Vault; however, not all of these services comply with HIPAA without first entering into a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
If you use Google Workspace with a paid subscription, be sure to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). This will protect against potentially costly fines due to any PHI breaches that might arise from its misuse.
How do I know if my Google Workspace is HIPAA compliant?
1. Enable Two-Factor Authentication
As part of moving data and business operations to the cloud, it is crucial that you carefully consider IT security and compliance needs.
Healthcare organizations in particular may have concerns that their patient data might become vulnerable to hackers; to ensure its protection they should use HIPAA compliant applications and services. You can visit this site to learn more about HIPAA compliance.
Google Workspace is an ideal solution for companies looking to transition their IT infrastructure to the cloud, offering email, file storage, collaboration tools, calendars, websites, and video conferencing among its many apps and services.
To be HIPAA compliant, first sign a Google Business Associate Agreement and configure your account accordingly – using organizational units and segregating users who access PHI from those who do not.
This can be accomplished using the Admin Console.
Make sure that end users do not send electronic Personal Health Information outside the organization via email by using tools like Polymer DLP to identify, alert and secure sensitive data across chats, file storage platforms, ticketing systems, and codebases.
2. Encryption
Encryption is a specialized security strategy designed to safeguard sensitive information. This is particularly essential when sending PHI over email or attachments.
To ensure HIPAA compliance for Google Workspace email accounts, encryption should be set on emails you send. This way, only authorized recipients will be able to read them. You can click the link: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/encryption to learn more about encryption.
Gmail may not provide encryption by default, but there are plenty of features you can utilize to achieve an equivalent level of protection. Rules can even be set up that check both incoming and outgoing email for PHI content, with further action taken against any messages which contain PHI such as blocking them from being relayed or notifying IT administrators as appropriate.
Use of encryption with Google Workspace email can help your organization comply with HIPAA compliance regulations and protect sensitive information from being intercepted as it moves between locations.
3. Access Control
As a business or healthcare provider, you recognize that your staff needs access to a secure environment in which to conduct their work. If the Google Workspace HIPPA compliant environment isn’t configured properly, there is the risk that protected health information (PHI) will end up in the wrong hands and endanger sensitive patient records.
This is why it is important to ensure the proper precautions are taken to guarantee security.
Password strength detection is a crucial security measure. This feature can help identify whether staff is choosing passwords that are too weak or short – this can put your ePHI at risk if not addressed immediately.
If your staff is sending Protected Health Information via email, it is recommended to use an outside encryption service like Gmail that offers free BAA compliance to keep their emails safe. Doing this will protect the privacy of sensitive ePHI even if leakage occurs through Google.
Administrators will also need to configure visibility and permissions appropriately for their users if employees will use Google Drive for sharing PHI in accordance with HIPAA requirements.
As part of your Google Admin console management of users, be sure they each have appropriate visibility and permissions on their Google Workspace accounts. Only then can you ensure everyone who needs access has it as well as control who has what access.
If employees are sharing calendars in Google Workspace with other employees or teams, you must ensure it is configured appropriately so PHI cannot be shared through end-user sharing processes and technology controls in place.
4. Training
HIPAA compliance is an integral component of any cloud environment, but especially relevant for healthcare organizations that use G Suite or Google Workspace to store patient information.
HIPAA compliance demands an integrated approach combining people and technology. Training employees on how to use systems such as Google Workspace in accordance with HIPAA regulations is vitally important.
Training will typically consist of both in-person and online instruction depending on your organization’s needs; for example, healthcare providers might choose to include both new hire induction training as well as refresher courses on HIPAA requirements for existing employees.
Google Workspace also offers tools and solutions to ensure HIPAA-compliant security, including Polymer DLP which provides intelligent protection of PHI in Google Workspace environments for regulatory compliance purposes.
Maintaining HIPAA compliance in Google Workspace means upholding security and availability, which requires adhering to both technical and administrative aspects of the solution.
This means making sure data is backed up regularly, and maintaining logs of administrator activities, data exposures, user collaborations, file activity audits, and more.