HIPAA penalties can reach $1.9 million per violation category per year. Our healthcare compliance specialists help covered entities and business associates rapidly remediate audit findings across all three safeguard categories.
HIPAA Penalty Structure
OCR enforces HIPAA through a tiered penalty structure based on the level of negligence. Understanding these tiers underscores the urgency of remediation.
Tier 1
Did Not Know
$100 - $50,000 per violation
Max: $25,000/year
Tier 2
Reasonable Cause
$1,000 - $50,000 per violation
Max: $100,000/year
Tier 3
Willful Neglect (Corrected)
$10,000 - $50,000 per violation
Max: $250,000/year
Tier 4
Willful Neglect (Not Corrected)
$50,000 per violation
Max: $1.9M/year
Remediation by Safeguard Category
HIPAA organizes requirements into three safeguard categories. We remediate findings across all three with deep healthcare industry expertise.
Administrative Safeguards
Policies, procedures, and organizational measures to manage the selection, development, and implementation of security measures to protect ePHI.
Common Findings
No formal risk assessment or risk assessment is severely outdated
Missing or incomplete information security policies and procedures
No designated security officer or privacy officer
Inadequate workforce training and awareness programs
Missing Business Associate Agreements with vendors
No sanctions policy for workforce violations
Our Remediation
Conduct comprehensive risk assessment using NIST SP 800-30
Develop complete HIPAA policy library aligned with requirements
Appoint and document security and privacy officer roles
Implement role-based training with documented completion
Audit and execute BAAs with all business associates
Create and communicate a sanctions and enforcement policy
Physical Safeguards
Physical measures, policies, and procedures to protect electronic information systems and related buildings and equipment from natural and environmental hazards and unauthorized intrusion.
Common Findings
Workstations displaying ePHI in public or patient-accessible areas
Server rooms and data closets without physical access controls
No equipment disposal or media destruction procedures
Missing visitor access controls and logs
Our Remediation
Implement privacy screens and auto-lock on all ePHI workstations
Deploy badge access with logging for all areas containing ePHI systems
Establish certified media destruction and equipment disposal procedures
Create visitor management policy with sign-in/escort requirements
Technical Safeguards
Technology and related policies and procedures used to protect ePHI and control access to it.
Common Findings
Shared accounts or generic credentials on ePHI systems
ePHI not encrypted at rest or in transit
Audit logging disabled or insufficient on EHR systems
No automatic session timeout or emergency access procedures
Missing integrity controls for ePHI transmission
Our Remediation
Implement unique user identification with MFA for all ePHI access
Deploy FIPS-compliant encryption for all ePHI at rest and in transit
Enable comprehensive audit logging with regular review processes
Configure automatic logoff and document emergency access procedures
Implement integrity verification for ePHI data transmissions
Who We Help
Covered Entities
Hospitals and health systems
Physician practices
Health plans and insurers
Healthcare clearinghouses
Business Associates
IT managed service providers
Cloud hosting providers
Billing and coding companies
EHR and software vendors
Failed Your HIPAA Audit? We Specialize in Healthcare Compliance.
Our healthcare compliance team understands the unique challenges of protecting PHI. Get expert remediation support today.