How to Develop a HIPAA Compliant Mobile Application

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    The era that we are presently living in operates under one simple formula – data is gold. When we look into any industry that deals with users’ data (sensitive or not) we are also bound to see some compliances in place aiming to make the industry more safeguarded. 

    Healthcare sector too, is not untouched by the need for strict compliances to save users’ data from getting misused in this mobile-first era. There is a healthcare app development company in usa that provides the services but it is more important to understand all the concepts first.

    What is the HIPAA act?

    The HIPAA Act ensures there are zero anomalies when handling and storing patient data, especially on a software platform. It also includes sharing of information related to billing and healthcare insurance coverage for the medical patients. 

    The idea of developing mobile app HIPAA compliance was launched in 1996 for regulating protection of the patients’ data, lowering the healthcare cost, and providing health insurance coverage for people who lost or changed their jobs. However, the portion of the act that we are interested in as developers and you would be as app entrepreneurs is the requirement for ensuring that the app protects users against data fraud.

    Generic Features of a HIPAA Compliant Applications 

    While like other mobile app sectors, no two healthcare applications are also the same. There are, however, some features that are common in all the HIPAA compliant healthcare application development processes, as we have also covered in our Health application development guide. 

    User Identification: For the authentication of users, the best thing can be to ask them for a PIN or password. You can also take the feature up a notch by implementing biometric identification and smart cards. 

    Access at time of emergency: In case of natural emergencies, the network conditions and essential services might face a disruption. While it is not a direct requirement to arrange for these instances, it would be a good decision, consciously to have a provision that addresses these issues. 

    Encryption: The data which is stored or being transmitted has to be encrypted. When you use services like Google Cloud or AWS which runs Transport Layer Security 1.2, you automatically get end to end encryption in place. Although TLS can be enough, it can be a good move to fortify it further with AES encryption. 

    Learn more: https://appinventiv.com/blog/develop-hipaa-compliant-app/