Everything You Need to Know About HIPAA Compliant Email

Why These Steps Are Non-Negotiable

According to the October 2025 report by the HIPAA Journal, between 2009 and 2024, over 6,750 major healthcare data breaches exposed the sensitive records of more than 846 million people. That’s well over twice the population of the United States. The statistics are not just numbers. They are a clear warning sign.

The trend is accelerating. In 2018, a breach of 500 or more records happened about once a day. By 2023, that rate had more than doubled to nearly two major breaches every single day. In 2024 alone, the protected health information of over 276 million individuals was exposed or stolen. That means, on average, over 758,000 patient records were compromised every day last year.

This is the new reality. The threat is not theoretical, and it is not slowing down. Attackers are more sophisticated, and the cost of falling behind in your defenses has never been higher.

The following 15 steps are not a wish list for perfect security. They are the essential, non-negotiable actions required to navigate this dangerous landscape. Each step is a direct response to the weaknesses exploited in the thousands of breaches that came before. Ignoring them is not an option; it is an invitation for your organization to become the next headline, the next statistic, and the next source of broken patient trust.

What Are the Major Data Security Problems in Healthcare?

The core issue is that healthcare has become almost entirely digital. This shift brings major advantages to both patients and medical providers. It will continue creating new opportunities in the future. However, it also increases security risks substantially.

The digital landscape is now much larger and more complicated. This means there are far more entry points where hackers can break in or where data can be exposed.

A February 2025 report from Health-ISAC outlines the most common cybersecurity risks facing healthcare organizations today. The report, Health Sector Cyber Threat Landscape 2025, shows that threats have grown more complex and now affect not only data security but also patient care.

Ransomware and Supply Chain Attacks

Ransomware remains the top threat to healthcare. Attacks often spread through vendors, software providers, or shared systems, allowing one breach to impact many organizations at once.

Third-Party and Vendor Risks

Healthcare relies heavily on external vendors for EHRs, billing, and cloud services. Weak security or stolen credentials at a vendor level can expose patient data across multiple systems.

Phishing and Stolen Credentials

Phishing is still the most common way attackers gain access. Employees may unknowingly click malicious links or share login details, giving attackers entry into internal systems.

Outdated Systems and Limited Visibility

Many hospitals continue to use older systems that lack modern security protections. At the same time, incomplete tracking of devices and applications makes it harder to secure everything properly.

Staffing and Resource Constraints

Short-staffed IT and security teams often struggle to keep up with patching, monitoring, and risk assessments. This leaves gaps that attackers can exploit.

Impact on Patient Care

Cyber incidents now directly affect patient safety. System outages have caused delayed treatments, canceled appointments, and disruptions to critical services.

How to Prevent Healthcare Data Breaches: Your 15-Step Action Plan

Build a Strong Foundation First

You cannot improve what you do not understand. Start by getting a clear picture of your risks and putting the right tools in place.

Step 1: Conduct an annual, living security risk analysis.

A Security Risk Analysis is not a report for your auditor. It is a map that shows you where your digital doors and windows are unlocked. You must look at how patient data flows through your entire organization. Where is it stored? How is it sent? Who can access it?

Do use a simple framework to guide your review. Most importantly, turn every risk you find into a task with a person in charge and a deadline. A risk that is only written down is not a fixed risk.

Don’t use a generic checklist or fill out a templated report without investigating your actual data flows and systems. Don’t treat it as a one-time project. A static, outdated report is worse than no report at all when an auditor sees it.

Step 2. Control and review who has access to data.

Not every employee needs to see all patient information. A physical therapist does not need the same access as a billing specialist. This is called the “principle of least privilege” or minimum necessary access. 

Do set up role-based access in your key systems. Then, put a quarterly review on the calendar. Check that people still have the right access for their current job, especially when someone changes roles or leaves the organization.

Don’t make the mistake of granting broad “admin” or “full access” roles to make onboarding easier. This is where a big part of healthcare organizations go wrong.

Step 3: Use dedicated compliance and risk management software.

Trying to manage security with spreadsheets, file folders, and email reminders is a recipe for disaster. Information gets lost in different places. Critical deadlines are forgotten. When an audit happens, your team spends weeks in a panic searching for proof.

Do implement a centralized platform designed for HIPAA compliance, like ComplyAssistant. This software acts as the command center for your entire security program. It is where your risk analysis lives, your policies are stored, and your training is tracked. It turns your plan into consistent, provable action.

Don’t purchase a generic project management or file-sharing tool and try to adapt it for compliance. You will waste time forcing it to handle healthcare-specific workflows like BAA tracking and risk remediation, and it will lack the audit-ready reporting you need.

Turn Your Staff Into a Human Firewall

Your employees are your first line of defense. A well-trained team can spot and stop attacks that technology might miss.

Step 4: Train your staff continuously.

Annual “click-through” slide decks do not work. People forget them. Training needs to be engaging, practical, and ongoing.

Do give preference to short, frequent training sessions. Use real examples of phishing emails that target healthcare. Run simulated phishing tests to give staff safe practice. Most importantly, celebrate and thank employees who report suspicious emails. This turns them from targets into security champions.

Don’t Punish or shame employees who fail a simulated phishing test or report a potential security mistake. A culture of blame teaches staff to hide errors and avoid reporting suspicious activity, which silences your most critical early-warning system.

Step 5: Practice a breach response plan with your team.

Always assume a security incident will happen. A clear, practiced plan is the difference between a controlled response and total chaos.

Do write a simple plan that answers: Who is in charge during an incident? How do we contain the problem? Who do we notify, and when? Then, practice it. Run a tabletop exercise with your leadership and IT teams every six months to keep the plan fresh.

Don’t leave your incident response plan as a 50-page PDF that no one has read. Don’t assume your IT team can handle everything without involving clinical leadership, legal, and communications.

Build Strong Digital Defenses

Strong technology controls create essential barriers that protect data automatically.

Step 6: Encrypt your data everywhere.

Encryption scrambles data so it is unreadable without a special key. If a hacker steals an encrypted laptop, the data inside is useless to them.

Do require full-disk encryption on all laptops, tablets, and phones. Also, use encryption for sensitive emails and any patient data you send to the cloud.

Don’t assume your mobile device management (MDM) tool automatically enables encryption on all devices. Double check every device.

Step 7: Patch and update all systems promptly.

Hackers constantly find new holes in software. Companies release patches to fix these holes. Systems that are not patched are like leaving your front door wide open.

Do create a strict schedule for applying security patches. Critical updates should be installed within days, not weeks or months. This includes computers, servers, and any medical device connected to your network.

Don’t delay patching critical systems for months because you’re worried about disrupting a legacy medical application. This is one of the most common and exploitable gaps hackers use.

Step 8: Enforce strong physical security habits.

Data can leak out on paper, a USB drive, or an unlocked computer screen.

Do implement a clean desk policy where sensitive documents are locked away at night. Use shred bins for any paper with patient information. Secure all workstations in public areas with privacy screens and automatic log-off after a few minutes of inactivity.

Don’t allow anyone to write down passwords on sticky notes hidden under keyboards or in unlocked drawers. Don’t let paper records pile up in recycle bins instead of locked shred bins.

Step 9. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA).

A password alone is not safe enough. MFA adds a second step, like a code sent to your phone. This makes stolen passwords useless to an attacker.

Do turn on MFA for every system that allows it, especially for remote access to your network, email, and electronic health records.

Don’t exempt senior executives or “busy clinicians” from MFA requirements due to perceived inconvenience. This creates the most valuable, high-access targets for attackers.

Secure Your Entire Ecosystem

Your security is only as strong as your weakest link, and that often includes the companies you work with.

Step 10. Manage your vendors actively and rigorously.

Your billing company, IT provider, and cloud storage vendor all handle your patient data. If they are hacked, you are still responsible.

Do keep a master list of all vendors. Send them a security questionnaire each year to check their practices. Set calendar reminders for BAA renewals.

Don’t file a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) at the start of a contract and never look at it again. Don’t assume a large, brand-name vendor is automatically secure without reviewing their own security practices.

Step 11: Secure every connected device and machine.

From heart monitors to smart thermostats, every device on your network is a potential entry point for an attacker.

Do make a list of all internet-connected devices. Then, work with IT to put these devices on a separate, segmented part of your network. This way, if one device is compromised, the hacker cannot easily reach your main patient data servers.

Don’t allow clinical departments to purchase and connect “smart” devices (like connected vitals monitors or HVAC systems) to the main network without IT’s knowledge or security review.

Step 12. Deploy advanced email filtering.

Most attacks start with a phishing email. Good filtering can catch these messages before they ever reach an employee’s inbox.

Do use an email security service that does more than block spam. It should scan for impersonation (like an email pretending to be your CEO) and malicious links. This provides a critical safety net.

Don’t disable security warnings for external emails, as this removes a key visual cue that helps staff spot impersonation attempts.

Make Your Strategy Work Together

Doing a few of these steps well is not enough. A failure in vendor management can undo all your work on encryption. Your strategy must be 100% integrated.

Step 13: Integrate all your security efforts.

Your risk analysis, staff training, vendor checks, and incident plan must talk to each other. A finding in your risk analysis should lead to updated training. A failed phishing test should inform your response plan. When efforts are siloed, critical gaps are created.

Do appoint one person or team to be the central point that connects the dots between your risk analysis, training outcomes, vendor reviews, and incident logs. Create a simple quarterly meeting where leaders from IT, compliance, and clinical operations review findings together.

Don’t let your Security Officer, Privacy Officer, and IT Director operate in separate silos with separate reports. A risk found by IT that is never communicated to the training coordinator is a guaranteed future vulnerability.

Step 14: Use proven compliance software to unite your program.

This is where a platform like ComplyAssistant becomes essential. It is the single system that connects all 12 steps. It turns your risk analysis into tasks. It links your policies to assigned training. It tracks your vendor BAAs and sends renewal alerts. It stores the documentation for every action you take.

When an auditor asks for proof, you are not scrambling. The best compliance tools can help you show a complete, interconnected story of your active compliance program. For leaders, it provides a dashboard showing your real security status, turning compliance from a scary unknown into a managed process.

Do select a platform specifically engineered for healthcare governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). A true compliance operating system should actively guide your workflows—automatically linking risks to policies, assigning training based on role, and generating auditor-ready reports.

Don’t use a platform that functions only as a passive document library. One that doesn’t automate workflows and connect data points to give you a real-time status of your entire program, it is not managing your compliance; it’s just storing files.

Step 15: Audit your current security against these steps.

Take this list and walk through your organization. How many of these steps do you have in place? How many are documented? How many are measured? This will show you exactly where to start strengthening your defenses.

Do conduct this audit with a cross-functional team (IT, compliance, a department manager). Score your maturity on each step and create a formal, prioritized gap report with owners and deadlines to present to leadership.

Don’t treat this as a solo, informal checklist. Without written documentation of your gaps and a committed plan to address them, you have no baseline for improvement and no defense in an audit. Ignoring known weaknesses is often viewed more harshly than the initial vulnerability.

Final Thoughts

Understanding how to prevent data breaches in healthcare requires moving beyond isolated fixes.The path is clear, but it requires a shift in mindset. It is not about finding a single magic solution or buying the most expensive firewall. True security is built through consistent, integrated action. It is the daily discipline of managing access, the ongoing commitment to training your team, and the vigilant oversight of your entire digital ecosystem.

The 15 steps outlined here form a blueprint for transforming your security from a reactive burden into a proactive culture of resilience. This is how you move from fearing the next breach to confidently managing risk. It is how you ensure that your primary mission, providing exceptional patient care, is never derailed by a preventable crisis.

Protecting patient data is now an inseparable part of that mission. By implementing these steps, you do more than check a box for compliance. You build a stronger, more trustworthy organization.

See how an integrated platform can transform your security program from a collection of tasks into a single, manageable strategy.  Take the first step toward uniting your defenses with a free demo of ComplyAssistant, one of the best healthcare compliance platforms according to experts.

Frequently Asked Questions | Preventing Data Breaches

How to prevent healthcare data breaches for a very small clinic?

Start with a foundational Security Risk Analysis to map your data and identify critical weaknesses. Then, implement three core actions. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication on all systems, enforce full-disk encryption on every device, and establish formal, active management of all vendor contracts (BAAs). This targeted approach addresses the most common and severe vulnerabilities, providing a strong initial defense.

Is HIPAA staff training mandatory for all health organizations?

Absolutely yes. Staff training is your essential human firewall. Effective training moves beyond annual lectures to engaging, frequent lessons on recognizing phishing and handling data safely. When employees understand how to prevent healthcare data breaches as part of their daily job, they become active defenders who report threats, drastically reducing risk from human error, the leading cause of incidents.

Is buying new security software enough to prevent data breaches in healthcare?

No, technology is only one component. A comprehensive strategy for how to prevent healthcare data breaches integrates people, process, and tools. Software must be supported by clear policies, trained staff, and a culture of security. The right platform acts as the engine that connects these elements. It automates tasks, tracks compliance, and provides visibility. But it will not replace sound fundamentals.

What should we do immediately after discovering a data breach?

Act fast. Contain the breach. Disconnect affected systems to stop further data loss. Notify your incident response team and follow your written plan. Document everything you do and when you did it. You must also report the breach to affected patients and authorities within specific timeframes, usually 60 days for HIPAA. Understanding how to prevent healthcare data breaches includes having a practiced response plan.

Why do hackers target hospitals?

Healthcare data is incredibly valuable on the black market. A single medical record sells for 10-50 times more than a credit card number because it contains everything; Social Security numbers, insurance details, medical history, and billing information. Plus, hospitals can’t afford downtime when lives are at stake, making them more likely to pay ransoms. Knowing how to prevent data breaches in healthcare is critical because you’re facing highly motivated attackers who know you’re under-resourced and can’t simply shut down operations.