Blancco company processes around data lifecycle management are HIPAA compliant. What does this mean for you, our customer? Read on… 

Gauri Sawant Gauri Sawant has been serving as Senior Legal Counsel in the legal function of Blancco Technology Group since 2018. With over 13 years of experience Gauri specializes in contract negotiations and management, data privacy compliance, risk mitigation strategies, and legal training and mentorship.

What is HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or “HIPAA,” is a U.S. law that protects individual privacy around healthcare data.

It is governed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and includes national processes and security standards around electronic healthcare transactions. It applies to health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcare providers that transmit certain health information in electronic form. It also applies to certain business associates. 

One of the primary purposes of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is to provide federal privacy protections for individually identifiable health information and electronic personal health information (e-PHI).

How is Blancco HIPAA Compliant? 

As a company, we are committed to taking all appropriate data privacy and information security steps to protect data that may include personal health information (PHI).  In addition, while we do not process any customer PHI, this data can reside in the networks and hardware of Blancco’s data erasure customers.    

That’s why we’ve developed robust policies and processes to protect healthcare data for ourselves and our customers. One of the most important ways we’ve done this is to conduct and document a thorough internal review of our PHI data protection practices. Our goal was to ensure that every aspect of our operations aligned with HIPAA requirements and establish a HIPAA self-certification process. This self-certification required a meticulous assessment of our information security practices, privacy standards, and overall operations to ensure we meet the stringent criteria set forth by HIPAA.  

Also, to better discuss HIPAA compliance with our U.S. customers who need to protect PHI, we implemented comprehensive HIPAA training for key members of our North American sales team.  

That’s just one more way we support our customers in confidently complying with HIPAA’s data destruction requirements for no-longer-needed PHI.  

How Data Sanitization Helps Organizations Stay Compliant with HIPAA  

There are several components involved in HIPAA Compliance, and Blancco data erasure solutions assist organizations with two specific parts: the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule.  

Our solution brief, How Does Blancco Help Organizations Achieve HIPAA Compliance?, goes into detail, but essentially, these two rules direct organizations on safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected health information, including destroying such information when it is no longer needed.   

Software-based data sanitization, particularly when deployed automatically through policy-based rules, ensures that no-longer-needed information cannot be breached.  

What Does Blancco’s HIPAA Compliance Mean for You?  

While becoming HIPAA compliant may sound daunting, our HIPAA-specific training, in addition to the information security and data privacy knowledge already in place, gives our team a solid understanding of where data erasure fits into helping you meet or exceed health care data protection requirements.   

Also, our team regularly reviews our data privacy and information security processes for the protection of our own employees, our business and our customers. HIPAA compliance is one way we demonstrate that our operations are in line with U.S. information security and data privacy principles.  

Globally, our ISO 9001 certification provides proof that we consistently offer products and services that meet stringent regulatory requirements. Our ISO 27001 accreditation highlights how to operate an excellent information security management system.  

Given the business we’re in, these processes are critical for our professional integrity. They’re also critical for ensuring that Blancco customers receive best-in-class products from a company that follows the data protection and privacy principles it advocates.  

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This blog post was updated from its July 19, 2022 publication to reflect Blancco’s latest internal standards.