Often, the barrier that prevents many healthcare-related startups from expanding at a faster pace is the cost of entry for HIPAA Compliant Hosting.
Because of the sensitive nature of protected health information (PHI), HIPAA requires that the hosting environments be specially secured and monitored in ways that differ from the non-HIPAA sector.
However, this type of increased security comes at a time cost for the provider, and a financial cost for the client: it is simply more expensive to host HIPAA data than non-HIPAA data.
That said, the barrier for entry need not be insurmountable. HIPAA Vault is intentional about offering an inexpensive solution that meets or exceeds the safeguards required by HIPAA.
Resource Utilization, System Security
One of the first things you’ll consider is exactly how much you need in terms of resource utilization.
It’s always easy to think that “more is better” when it comes to resources; everybody has desired more RAM or hard drive space on their personal computer at one time or another.
Still, more isn’t always better; maxing out on server resources that are unnecessary can be like buying a Lamborghini to go to the grocery store.
Having said this, the right design matters. It is “best practice” for the protection of PHI to have your database server separate from your website server. In this way, even if your public-facing web server were to be compromised, the database server would be inaccessible.
Your HIPAA Vault compliant plan will therefore include a minimum of three servers: an isolated Web Server, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and a Database Server.
Utilizing dedicated website and database servers is smart for multiple reasons: not only is security increased, but each server’s resources can be provisioned and optimized independently to handle specific tasks.
For example, your database server will have more available processing power (CPU) for handling queries, resulting in faster, more efficient database performance.
In the same way, CPU-intensive queries to your database won’t have a negative impact on requests to your website. (Adding additional web servers with customized load balancing is also available, as required).
What is Managed Hosting?
We think HIPAA hosting should go beyond a strong initial design, however. Fully managed hosting services should handle all upgrades, security patching, administration, and optimization, with live dedicated customer service that you can reach any time – 24/7.
Our IT Security Specialists will expertly configure your server network with layers of “protective armor” – including managed firewalls, host intrusion detection, anti-DDoS, anti-virus protection, SIEM, encryption, access controls/two-factor authentication, and customized 24/7 monitoring – to guard against malicious attacks.
Unfortunately, smaller healthcare companies will eschew the luxury of managed services by attempting to perform these tasks themselves – despite their lack of data-security expertise and the time it will take away from seeing patients and running their business. The risks of doing so can be catastrophic, increasing the likelihood of a breach that will compromise patient data.
With all these things to consider, it is important to see that the choice of provider is of paramount importance. What you get with one HIPAA host may not be the same as another. Make sure that you research properly to see what a basic plan will get you, and importantly, what it will not get you. Take a look at some higher-tier plans to see what you might be choosing to do without.
Our secure HIPAA hosting starts at $399/month, an excellent price for a fully managed, 3-server plan – especially considering that most of our competitors only offer one.
With HIPAA Vault, you’ll see that it’s possible to purchase a reasonably-priced HIPAA hosting plan that will fulfill all the requirements, and even scale up as necessary. There’s no need to break the bank!
HIPAA Vault is a leading provider of affordable, HIPAA compliant solutions, enabling healthcare providers, business organizations, and government agencies to secure their protected health information from data breaches, threats, and security vulnerabilities. Contact us today to discuss your needs: 760–290–3460, or visit www.hipaavault.com.
