Our mission at Protenus is to advance the science of healthcare by bringing together creative and skilled individuals who are passionate about the security, usability, and applicability of health data. As this information becomes more voluminous, comprehensive, and, as a consequence, more vulnerable, we are building scalable, insightful solutions that address critical issues preventing the efficient, safe, and effective delivery of patient care. 

Covered Entities and Business Associates are well aware of the mandatory requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule and the HITECH Act, but until recently, there was limited specific guidance from HHS and OCR on how to comply with standards or what regulators viewed as appropriate compliance efforts. On January 5, 2021, HR 7898, commonly referred to as the HIPAA Safe Harbor Bill, was signed into law, amending the HITECH Act and providing some clarity for Covered Entities and Business Associates on industry best practices for security. The law requires HHS and OCR to provide certain incentives for best practice cybersecurity to meet HIPAA standards.

Health systems are beginning to realize the untapped potential of compliance analytics for efficiently auditing the roughly 60 million electronic health record queries occurring each month in an average-sized U.S. hospital. With an artificial intelligence-powered compliance analytics program, organizations can surface unusual access patterns that warrant human investigation, thereby fortifying patient data security and creating new workflow efficiencies.

At Protenus, customers are our top priority. By continuously working to understand the evolving challenges facing our partnered healthcare organizations, we deliver a solution that plugs easily into existing workflows, minimizes cumbersome manual labor, and better ensures organizational compliance.

After the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996, the U.S. Department of Health and Human services estimated health systems would spend about $113 million to achieve compliance — plus $14.5 million annually to remain in the green, Medical Economics reported in 2019. However, the actual yearly costs of HIPAA compliance for institutions may be closer to $8.3 billion.