Security Risk Analysis
The documented, periodic HIPAA Security Risk Analysis you are required to have — the first thing OCR asks for — turned into a prioritized, plain-language remediation plan.
HIPAA-Compliant IT for Medical & Dental Practices
HIPAA does not care that you run a three-chair dental office or a two-provider clinic — if you store electronic patient data, the Security Rule applies in full, and a single breach can bring an investigation that asks for documentation you may not have. Ghosxt builds and documents HIPAA-compliant IT for small medical and dental practices on the Central Coast, with the rigor of a DoD-cleared engineer and the right-sized practicality of someone who works with small offices every day.
Right-sized for a small practice — full HIPAA technical safeguards, documented.
What HIPAA requires of your technology
The HIPAA Security Rule breaks down into administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for electronic protected health information. In practice, for a small practice, that means a documented security risk analysis, strict access controls with unique logins and MFA, encryption of ePHI wherever it lives, audit logging, secure and tested backups, a contingency plan, and Business Associate Agreements with every vendor who can touch patient data. Most practices have some of this by accident and none of it documented — which is exactly the gap an investigation exposes.
Compliance is not a product you buy; it is a configured, documented state you maintain. That is the part we own for you, so your team can focus on patients.
The HIPAA safeguards we implement and document
Right-sized technical safeguards for a small practice — everything the Security Rule requires, configured properly and documented so you can prove it.
Access Controls & MFA
Unique logins, least-privilege access, automatic logoff, and phishing-resistant MFA on every account that can reach ePHI — the controls that stop a stolen password from becoming a reportable breach.
Encryption Everywhere
ePHI encrypted at rest and in transit — laptops, servers, email, and backups — so a lost device or intercepted message is a non-event instead of a notification letter to every patient.
Audit Logging & Monitoring
Logging of who accessed what, with 24/7 monitoring, so unauthorized access is caught and you can demonstrate accountability if you are ever asked to prove it.
BAAs & Vendor Gaps
A signed Business Associate Agreement with us, plus a sweep of every other vendor touching ePHI to confirm they have one too — a gap we find in most practices we assess.
Backup & Contingency Plan
HIPAA-required data backup and a tested contingency plan so patient records survive ransomware, hardware failure, or disaster. See backup & disaster recovery.
See where your practice stands on HIPAA
Book a free assessment. We will check your safeguards against what HIPAA actually requires, flag the gaps that would surface in an investigation, and hand you a prioritized plan — whether or not you become a client.
Book your free assessmentThe document that's almost always missing
When the Office for Civil Rights investigates a breach, the first thing they ask for is your Security Risk Analysis — and it is the single most commonly missing document in small-practice enforcement actions. Having it, keeping it current, and acting on its findings is both a legal requirement and your best evidence of good faith. We perform it, document it, and fold the remediation into ongoing managed IT so it stays current instead of going stale in a drawer.
This work pairs directly with our healthcare IT services and the cybersecurity controls that prevent the breaches HIPAA is designed to address.
HIPAA IT compliance FAQs
What does HIPAA actually require of our IT?
The HIPAA Security Rule requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for electronic protected health information (ePHI): a documented security risk analysis, access controls with unique logins and MFA, encryption of ePHI at rest and in transit, audit logging, secure backup and a contingency plan, and signed Business Associate Agreements with vendors who touch ePHI. We implement and document all of it.
Do small practices really get audited or fined?
Yes. Enforcement is overwhelmingly driven by breaches, and small practices are breached constantly — a stolen laptop, a phishing email, a misconfigured cloud share. When that happens, the Office for Civil Rights asks for your risk analysis and safeguards, and 'we are too small' is not a defense. The fines and breach-notification costs routinely dwarf the cost of doing it right.
Is Microsoft 365 HIPAA compliant?
Microsoft 365 can be used in a HIPAA-compliant way, but it is not compliant out of the box, and a license alone does not make you compliant. You need the right plan, a signed BAA with Microsoft, and the tenant actually configured — MFA, encryption, access controls, audit logging, and email protections. We handle that configuration and the documentation that proves it.
Do you sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA)?
Yes. As your IT provider with access to systems that store ePHI, we are a business associate, and we sign a BAA defining our responsibilities. We also make sure every other vendor in your stack that touches ePHI — cloud, backup, email — has a BAA in place, which is a gap we find in most practices.
What is a Security Risk Analysis and do we need one?
A Security Risk Analysis (SRA) is the documented, periodic assessment of risks to your ePHI that the HIPAA Security Rule explicitly requires — and it is the single most commonly missing document when a practice is investigated. We perform it, document it, and turn the findings into a prioritized remediation plan, then keep it current.
What happens if we have a breach?
We help you respond: contain it, determine what ePHI was affected, support the breach-notification obligations to patients and OCR, and document everything. Better, we work to prevent it — the same EDR, MFA, encryption, and email security that stop most breaches before they become reportable. See emergency IT & ransomware recovery.
Make HIPAA a solved problem, not a looming risk
Book a free HIPAA assessment, or call (831) 204-0501. You will leave knowing exactly where your practice stands and what to fix first.
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