HIPAA, HITRUST, and the Future of Data Encryption in Healthcare

Let’s Talk About Your Most Valuable Asset: Trust

When patients walk into a clinic or log into a healthcare portal, they bring something more valuable than insurance—trust. Trust that their data will be protected and that your systems are secure.

But with cyberattacks growing more sophisticated, how do healthcare organizations keep that promise? This is where HIPAA, HITRUST CSF, and a modern encryption strategy help organizations go beyond the basic check boxes.

What HIPAA Really Says About Encryption

Most healthcare professionals know HIPAA is the cornerstone of patient data protection. But HIPAA doesn’t require encryption in every case—it treats it as an addressable safeguard. That means you're expected to implement it where reasonable and appropriate based on your risk environment. Ultimately, that puts the responsibility on you to determine what “reasonable” looks like across your systems, workflows, and tech stack—and document that decision carefully.

HIPAA’s key rules include:

• Privacy Rule: Controls who can access PHI and under what circumstances.

• Security Rule: Mandates the use of various safeguards, including encryption, to protect PHI.

• Breach Notification Rule: Outlines the steps required in the event of a data breach.

• Enforcement Rule: Failure to secure data properly (like skipping encryption could result in heavy penalties.

These four components of HIPAA leverage encryption as a critical safeguard to protect PHI from unauthorized access during storage and transmission. When properly implemented, it ensures that even if data is intercepted or compromised, it remains unreadable and secure.

HIPAA’s Security Rule amp; Encryption: What You Need to Know

HIPAA’s Security Rule outlines safeguards for protecting electronic protected health information (ePHI), categorized into three key areas: Administrative, Physical, and Technical. Each plays a critical role in data protection—and encryption is a central focus.

1. Administrative Safeguards

Risk assessments, workforce training, and documented security policies fall under this category. When encryption is reasonable and appropriate, policies must reflect its proper implementation.

2. Physical Safeguards

These protect physical access to systems and data—such as locked server rooms, controlled facility access, and secure workstation placement.

3. Technical Safeguards

Access controls, audit logs, and transmission security all fall here. Encryption is a foundational safeguard that helps ensure ePHI remains secure both in transit and at rest.

Encryption is a vital defense against unauthorized access to sensitive patient data. With cybercriminals targeting healthcare organizations of all sizes, it’s not just a best practice—it’s a must.

HITRUST CSF: The Extra Mile in Compliance

HITRUST CSF helps organizations build upon the encryption requirements under HIPAA and align with other leading cybersecurity frameworks. The HITRUST CSF framework provides a comprehensive, adaptive approach to cybersecurity by organizing over 230 control references into 19 categories and 60 control objectives—covering everything from access control to incident response. By aligning encryption and other safeguards with industry standards and evolving risks, it helps organizations strengthen PHI protection and streamline compliance across multiple frameworks.

To further strengthen healthcare data encryption under HITRUST CSF, organizations must demonstrate maturity across five levels:

• Policy: Maintain current, approved encryption policies that cover all systems, risks, and responsibilities.

• Procedure: Define clear workflows, responsibilities, and documentation for encryption practices.

• Implemented: Apply encryption consistently, train staff, and validate controls through testing.

• Measured: Routinely test and audit encryption effectiveness, monitor performance, and adapt based on threat intelligence.

• Managed: Continuously improve encryption processes, align with budgets, and benchmark against industry standards.

By progressing through these levels, organizations can ensure strong encryption controls and reduce PHI breach risks.

Encryption Is a Journey, Not a Checkbox

With 2025 regulations raising the bar for data protection, healthcare organizations must implement strong encryption aligned with updated HIPAA and HITRUST CSF standards to safeguard PHI against evolving cyber threats.If you're not sure whether your encryption strategy stacks up, you’re not alone. 

Let’s fix that.

📩 Contact RSI Security today to take the first step toward confident compliance and stronger data protection.

We’d love to hear from you!

👉 What challenges have you faced with healthcare data encryption? 👉 Are you preparing for the 2025 HIPAA updates?

Drop your thoughts or questions in the comments—or let’s connect directly.