What Is HIPAA? Health Data Security Explained | DNSFilter

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a U.S. law that establishes rules for protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of patient health information. It applies to healthcare providers, insurers, and vendors handling sensitive data, requiring them to implement security, privacy, and breach notification safeguards.

HIPAA is not just a healthcare concern, it is an important policy that shapes how IT teams, security professionals, and vendors manage infrastructure and protect electronic protected health information (ePHI). With so many healthcare startups, private clinics, and other healthcare-adjacent organizations, HIPAA’s original scope has expanded to include anyone handling this ePHI data.

HIPAA Overview

HIPAA plays a critical role in cybersecurity and compliance for healthcare organizations and their partners. Through a combination of privacy, security, and breach notification requirements, HIPAA protocols establish a standardized approach to protecting patient information in an increasingly digital environment.

Key aspects of HIPAA policy and protocols include:

• The Security Rule, which mandates technical, physical, and administrative safeguards around ePHI.
  
  
• The requirement for Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) between healthcare organizations and vendors handling ePHI.
  
  
• Enforcement actions that can include audits, public breach notifications, and significant financial penalties for non-compliance.

Implementing measures like encryption, access controls, audit logging, and DNS filtering are not optional upgrades any longer. These security measures are now critical components for compliance and for safeguarding sensitive health data.

Why HIPAA Was Created

The healthcare industry’s transition to digital records introduced new risks around data privacy, leading to the development of HIPAA. Several key factors drove the need for this data protection policy, including: 

• Rising numbers of healthcare data breaches due to ransomware, phishing, and insider threats.
  
  
• Early gaps in data protection as healthcare IT infrastructure expanded.
  
  
• Patient concerns about misuse or unauthorized disclosure of personal health information.
  
  
• The need to modernize healthcare delivery while maintaining or improving trust and security.

HIPAA created a legal and operational framework to address these challenges, setting national standards for protecting sensitive health information.

Security Outcomes with HIPAA

By requiring strong data protection practices, HIPAA improves the resilience of healthcare organizations and their vendors. HIPAA law incentivizes proactive security measures and risk management across the healthcare ecosystem.

• Drives technical safeguards such as encryption, secure DNS filtering, and multi-factor authentication.
  
  
• Mandates ongoing risk assessments and staff training programs to maintain a strong security posture.
  
  
• Creates vendor accountability through BAAs and security due diligence.
  
  
• Encourages breach prevention and rapid detection to minimize the impact of incidents.

Key HIPAA Rules

HIPAA includes multiple rules that define different areas of compliance:

HIPAA vs. Other Regulations

HIPAA isn’t the only policy that protects consumer privacy and data. See how it compares to GDPR and HITECH to understand where HIPAA fits in the data privacy regulation landscape: 

Although DNS filtering is not explicitly named in these regulations, it directly supports their technical safeguards by blocking phishing attempts, malware, and domain-based threats. HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH all require proactive measures to protect sensitive data—requirements that DNS filtering helps fulfill by preventing unauthorized access and reducing the risk of breaches.

HIPAA Statistics

• 237 million healthcare records were exposed in just 14 major data breaches in 2024. One of the 2024 breaches was the largest healthcare breach on record, affecting approximately 190 million individuals. Nearly 70% of the U.S. population was impacted, with most incidents involving hacking and third-party business associates.
  
  
• 22 HIPAA enforcement actions were issued in 2024, with several settlements exceeding $1 million.
  
  
• Hacking incidents remain the leading cause of healthcare data breaches.
  

Examples of HIPAA in Action

HIPAA outlines what’s required, but each organization must choose how to implement those safeguards. These real-world examples show how different healthcare stakeholders apply the Security Rule in practice, using tools like DNS filtering, access controls, and infrastructure upgrades to protect sensitive data.

Who Might Need HIPAA?

• Healthtech SaaS Provider: Implements DNS filtering and multi-factor authentication to meet HIPAA Security Rule requirements and block malware and phishing threats.
  
  
• Hospital: Deploys audit logging and granular access controls to ensure only authorized personnel can access patient records.
  
  
• Managed Service Provider (MSP): Signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and upgrades infrastructure security to support ePHI compliance.

Ready to Strengthen Healthcare Data Security?

HIPAA compliance isn’t just a legal requirement—it’s essential for protecting patient trust and healthcare operations.
DNSFilter supports healthcare organizations and vendors with DNS-layer security that aligns with HIPAA’s technical safeguard requirements.

Learn how DNSFilter enhances HIPAA compliance strategies →