Everything You Need to Know About HIPAA Compliance for Healthcare App Development

Healthcare is no different from other business sectors in the sense that it depends highly on data. Every entity linked to the healthcare system relies on it, be they providers or patients. The integration of digital technology has simplified data generation and storage, improving accuracy and speed compared to the traditional, paper-based method.

Digitized data is being produced at a large scale, proving useful in training algorithmic and machine learning tools to bring drastic improvements in diagnostics and treatment. Healthcare apps have become valuable tools for collecting this data, facilitating remote consultations, and keeping track of health metrics.

Patients place their trust in them and share their most private and sensitive details. This information is at least ten times more valuable compared to other private information like credit cards and Social Security numbers. The app needs to protect it at all costs.

Data regulation standards like HIPAA intend to change the approach and enforce the confidentiality and integrity of information in rapidly growing healthcare ecosystems. In fact, building a HIPAA-compliant healthcare app is an important step in preparing against cyberattacks and being able to respond, recover, and restore operations in the event of such occurrences.

What Exactly is HIPAA Compliance?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law enacted in 1996 to protect sensitive patient data. It focuses on preventing private health information disclosure without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

HIPAA compliance for software development is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). It consists of Privacy Rule and Security Rule standards that monitor the use of health information by entities falling under them.

HIPAA sets the groundwork for secure handling of electronic protected health information (e-PHI). When it comes to healthcare app development, adherence to HIPAA regulations by covered entities is mandatory. These entities include providers, plans (with exceptions), clearinghouses, and business associates using or disclosing individually identifiable health data for different purposes.

There are certain purposes or situations for which the law permits a covered entity to do so without an individual’s authorization, such as when required by law. However, HIPAA violations may lead to penalties of a civil, monetary, or criminal nature.

Why is HIPAA Compliant Healthcare App Development Vital for Providers?

Healthcare information is particularly vulnerable. In many healthcare organizations, it still exists on outdated IT infrastructure and operating systems that are no longer up-to-date. A majority of medical devices still work on legacy systems that stopped receiving updates long ago. The resulting cybersecurity vulnerabilities have made such organizations easy targets for ransomware attacks and threats to patient safety.

Failing to follow effective regulations and implementing strict measures during HIPAA compliant medical software development can lead to serious consequences. If confidential patient information leaks out, the providers in possession of it may be liable for not correctly fulfilling HIPAA requirements.

They likely face financial penalties, as was the case of unencrypted devices stolen from a reputed medical university that ended up paying millions of dollars to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for violating HIPAA security requirements.

Types of Healthcare Data Under HIPAA Compliance Application Development

Enormous amounts of data within the modern Healthcare Information Systems (HIS) used by organizations in different sectors have been categorized into six types, as explained by experienced HIPAA compliance consultants.

Operational Data

Operational data focuses on the day-to-day activities within healthcare organizations. This includes staff schedules and tasks that fall under facility management. Workflow optimization is also part of this type of information, and managing it properly improves the overall performance of such establishments. Advice from experienced healthcare compliance consulting firms can help manage this data responsibly.

Administrative Data

As the backbone of healthcare management, it includes scheduling and billing-related details. It also involves the location of service and hospital discharge information, which may be combined with other data sources to estimate and enrich the data of a population.

This category enables effective utilization of these aspects, like resource allocation, which plays a critical role in the smooth functioning of healthcare facilities. Proper HIPAA compliance software development requires building functionalities that store and facilitate the smooth flow of such data.

Clinical Data

Any information related to patient care and treatment, like electronic health records (EHRs), medical histories, diagnostic results, and treatment plans, falls under this domain. It consists of details about demographics, tests, treatment, and insurance.

This information is instrumental in making informed decisions for patient well-being and is not typically available outside the point of care at which it was collected. Protecting this and other forms of healthcare data will be extremely important when you decide to build a HIPAA compliant application.

Patient-Generated Data

People are using more wearable devices and patient portals as time passes, and these are excellent sources of healthcare information. This includes the data that a HIPAA compliance healthcare app collects from the wearable devices being worn by users.

Many times, they self-report symptoms, which provides an essential angle from the patient’s perspective. This enables healthcare providers to adopt a more patient-centric approach to healthcare. 

Public Health Data

As the name suggests, this category focuses on population-level information, like disease surveillance and vaccination records. This large-scale data is collected through surveys at the state or national level to help understand health trends, and it needs proper utilization for disease prevention and healthcare policy development.

For instance, national health surveys of chronic diseases aim to assess the health of a population and gain an estimate of how far a disease has spread. Such sources of information, although intended for specific purposes, are freely available for research.

Financial Data

This category of information is also valuable in the field of healthcare. Details like financial ratios and accounts receivable can help practitioners deliver effective treatments and boost operational efficiency.

An accurate financial information system built by HIPAA compliance service providers also gives the chance to discover new revenue opportunities. Healthcare providers can even invest in new technology and treatments when they can generate more revenue and manage it well, leaving a great impact on their practice.

Research Data

Medical research depends on several different types of datasets to uncover new treatments and understand diseases. The information within includes clinical trial results and genetic information. Collecting such details is crucial to gaining the insights we need for advancements in healthcare.

HIPAA Rules to Know Before Developing a Healthcare App 

Knowing and abiding by HIPAA rules is a requirement for healthcare apps that involve sensitive information like medical details and insurance data. Make sure to go over these carefully before you start thinking about what the HIPAA compliance app development cost would be. 

1. Mandatory Data Encryption

This is one of the fundamental requirements for HIPAA compliance app development. Any information related to the patients needs to be converted into a secure format before sending and deciphered before receiving. This data will only be available to view by the intended seekers using a key. Encrypting it during transmission and storage adds an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access.

2. Controlling Access

HIPAA demands strict control over who gets to view and use patient data. It is important to make sure these details do not get into the wrong hands and undergo manipulation that leads to harm or damage.

Therefore, measures like user authentication and role-based access are implemented to restrict access to the extent of details that are required. Secure login mechanisms are also a must to keep information protected from unauthorized people trying to misuse it within the mobile app. A comprehensive healthcare app development guide can shed light on this.

3. Following Communication Protocols

For HIPAA compliant mobile app development, you need to maintain all forms of communication between the app and other systems through secure channels. Protocols like HTTPS must be in place to encrypt information before transmission. These keep it safe from tampering by unauthorized parties. 

Avoid using open channels, as this puts patient data at risk of being intercepted and misused by hackers. They can easily impersonate patients and get medical treatment or medicines at their expense.

4. Conducting Regular Security Audits and Risk Assessments

HIPAA compliance needs maintaining for the long term since it has frequent revisions based on developments. Therefore, it is an ongoing commitment, not a one-time task. That said, it is becoming easier to do since the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as the US Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has recognized the need to add more guidelines and update the existing ones.

Developers must examine the app and assess it thoroughly on a regular basis to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. This is what we call a proactive approach, and it will play a key role in maintaining continuous compliance after HIPAA compliant healthcare app development is complete. It also speeds up resolution in case there are security concerns.

5. Detailed User Activity Logging

User activity is the biggest source of data leaks. It is why maintaining detailed logs of user activities within the app is a must. These serve as a crucial defense against data breaches, giving all the necessary information about users and the entire trail of everything they accessed.

This makes it extremely easy to identify sources of cybersecurity compromises when audits or investigations take place. The use of best practices in development when you create HIPAA Compliant apps for mobile in case of any security incidents after mobile app development. 

6. Adherence by Cloud Services

Health organizations and providers can store private information on the cloud. This will help them gain quick access to large amounts of data and provide healthcare to patients faster. 

However, as these cloud services are in use on a wide scale, they must comply with the standards that HIPAA compliant app development follows. This keeps electronic patient health data available yet confidential. Authorities will also notice any changes, or in case anyone deletes a piece of information without requisite permission.

7. Securing Data Transmission and Storage

Developers who build a HIPAA compliant app need to follow the right practices from the start to transfer information. This includes secure transmission over networks through strong encryption that demonstrates the use of appropriate measures at all times.

Data that remains in a static state on digital platforms is especially vulnerable to hackers. This is why having the right healthcare app development services secure anything on servers, hard drives, mobile devices, and solid-state drives is just as necessary to thwart breaches and establish trust among both parties (providers and patients).

8. Complete Training for Staff

All personnel who are developing or maintaining the mobile app must have full knowledge of HIPAA regulations. Anyone involved in its support must also be well aware of each rule and change poor habits during transmission. These include setting weak passwords, using unprotected company devices, or engaging in poor email or browsing habits.

The staff needs to address these, or the strongest lock will not be able to protect PHI if the wrong person has its key. It is essential to build a culture of security awareness by holding regular training sessions to keep the team updated on compliance requirements and the safe use of features of healthcare apps.

9. Privacy Policies and User Consent

Healthcare-related apps must have clear and concise privacy policies. Not only is this necessary by law – it increases awareness among users about how their data will exist. They will also know who will use it, and how they will share it.

Every HIPAA compliant software development company understands that explicit consent of the users before you start collecting information is essential. Doing this also helps the app owners avoid legal battles and hefty penalties. Not to mention, it gives a positive impression of your app and is good from a marketing perspective.

10. Swift Incident Response and Reporting

The development team requires an incident response plan (IRP). It is a structured strategy designed to handle data-related security issues, it is a legal requirement under HIPAA. An IRP helps identify and contain breaches quickly and is crucial to mitigate such situations, especially in healthcare settings.

It aims to safeguard patient privacy by minimizing the potential consequences of the breach and the penalties the organization may face. A HIPAA-compliant IRP consists of strong policies for every aspect of data security. This includes those that involve people dealing with PHI. It also requires effective mechanisms to recognize, report, and respond to potential threats. This way, the impact of a breach is not as big if it does take place.

A thorough HIPAA compliance consulting will help you get a clearer, detailed idea of the jargon surrounding regulated entities. 

What is the HIPAA Complaint Healthcare App Development Cost Breakdown?

The cost to develop a healthcare app varies from $25,000 to $30,000, without including the post-launch maintenance and marketing. However, the figure mentioned is inadequate for advanced solutions.

Robust HIPAA compliance solutions comprise a comprehensive range of functions and functionalities. Diverse factors, like the type of mobile app you create and the functionality and functionalities you select, specify the capital investment in developing a healthcare mobile app. Therefore, it is challenging to anticipate HIPAA compliance application development expenses.

Further, the healthcare app development cost is specified by the device you decide to develop your mobile app, such as Android, iOS, or cross-web (Flutter). 

The area where the custom mobile app development business is based also influences the app development cost. Healthcare compliance consulting firms in the United States charge about $150–$260 per hour; in Europe, it costs about $90–$150 per hour, and in India, capital investment is about $15–$25 per hour.

Factors that Influence the Cost of HIPAA-Compliant App Development

Considering that we’ve come across different types of healthcare mobile applications. Therefore, the cost of developing these different types of apps is not constant as it deviates based on the aspects below:

1. The Platform Type

Medical institutes and hospitals can choose frameworks for either iOS or Android platforms. The kind of platform picked demands different technologies, resources, duration, features, and aptitude to create a practical healthcare medical app.

Consequently, the expenditures will contrast. For instance, a native app will need about $450,000, while a hybrid healthcare app will need about $650,000 for the end-to-end development process.

2. UX/UI Design

Depending on the medical app’s goals and objectives, the UX/UI designs will range from fulfilling the client’s specifications to satisfying the user’s requirements. Thus, the UX/UI is essential in defining the features, resources, and technology needed to acquire a distinctive UX/UI design, influencing the comprehensive healthcare app development cost.

3. Development Team Location

Healthcare mobile app developers in the United States will demand more than developers from Africa. Living standards, economic situations, and experience levels influence the development cost. 

Below is an elaborative table representing the healthcare mobile app development expenses based on the location of the developers.

4. Rules and Regulation

A specialized healthcare app demands standards to guarantee the patient’s data is barricaded. Similarly, these regulations confirm secure medical procedures that ensure all patients are managed professionally. Keeping this in mind, healthcare apps need comprehensive features and the application of intricate technology to comply with the rules and regulations, thus influencing the extensive costs of developing such an app. 

5. Data protection and privacy

Data protection and privacy regulations improve data protection and encryption for all app users. Consequently, a healthcare app should be HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) complaint.

Prevent Potential HIPAA Violations with AppsChopper’s Help

Information pertaining to patient healthcare is undoubtedly a great asset in the generation of intellectual property and economic profit. However, its greater quantity and availability through HIPAA compliant apps is a double-edged sword. It can harm those whose data falls into the hands of bad actors.

The responsibility mostly falls upon healthcare providers and organizations. They must put quality cybersecurity solutions at the forefront of their data protection measures without worrying about healthcare app development costs.

The healthcare industry must update its practices for safeguarding data and increase awareness among stakeholders about medical identity theft. Staff and employees at organizations must know the policies and procedures for keeping patient data safe. Patients need to be aware of their right to review their records for signs of fraud and request rectification.

Experienced app development companies can help such organizations through HIPAA compliant software development. AppsChopper, for instance, has an extensive experience in building apps with proper safeguards in place. Our healthcare app development company takes every step to combine the convenience of an app with the maximum protection needed to ensure patient information remains in the right hands.