The Dental Security Risk Assessment Tool

by Done Desk

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule requires that covered entities and its business associates conduct a risk assessment of their healthcare organization. A risk assessment helps your organization ensure it is compliant with HIPAA’s administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. A risk assessment also helps reveal areas where your organization’s protected health information (PHI) could be at risk. To learn more about the assessment process and how it benefits your organization, visit the Office for Civil Rights' official guidance.

The Security Risk Assessment Tool is a resource provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that helps dental offices and other healthcare providers assess their security risks and develop a plan to address them. In this article, we will explain how the tool works, why it is important for dental offices to use, and provide some tips on how to get started.

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The HealthIT.gov Security Risk Assessment Tool is an online tool that guides dental offices and other healthcare providers through a step-by-step process to assess their security risks and vulnerabilities. The tool helps providers to identify potential risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI), which is information that is created, received, maintained, or transmitted in electronic form by a healthcare provider. The tool provides recommendations on how to address the identified risks, as well as resources to help dental offices implement best practices for protecting ePHI.

Why is it important for dental offices to use the Dental Security Risk Assessment Tool? The Dental Security Risk Assessment Tool is an important resource for dental offices to help ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI. In addition to being required by law under the HIPAA Security Rule, conducting a security risk assessment can help dental offices identify vulnerabilities that could lead to a data breach, which can be costly in terms of both financial and reputational damage. By using the tool, dental offices can identify areas where they need to improve their security controls and develop a plan to address those weaknesses.

This is a version of the official Security Risk Assessment Tool from healthit.gov

Credit to the original authors — but those guys made it really hard to use :/

(For example, you have to be using a windows device and download a software (or use the really confusing excel sheet!))

Our goal is to foster candid collaboration in the dental and medical community. So, we made it easier.

The world of Dental has been gatekeeping important resources, knowledge, and business-changing power for too long. We’re changing that.

Get it Done with Done Desk.

What is the Dental Security Risk Assessment Tool (SRA Tool)?

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), developed a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool to help guide you through the process. The tool is designed to help healthcare providers conduct a security risk assessment as required by the HIPAA Security Rule and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The target audience of this tool is medium and small providers; thus, use of this tool may not be appropriate for larger organizations.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the Dental Security Risk Assessment Tool:

Set aside dedicated time to complete the assessment. Depending on the size of your dental office and the complexity of your IT infrastructure, the assessment can take several hours to complete.
Involve your staff in the process. Your staff may be able to provide valuable insights into areas where security risks exist.
Don't rush the process. Take the time to carefully evaluate each section of the assessment and provide honest answers. Use the resources provided by the tool. The tool provides recommendations on how to address the identified risks, as well as links to additional resources that can help you implement best practices for protecting ePHI. Revisit the assessment periodically. Security risks can change over time, so it's important to conduct a new assessment periodically to ensure that your security controls remain effective.
Use the resources provided by the tool. The tool provides recommendations on how to address the identified risks, as well as links to additional resources that can help you implement best practices for protecting ePHI.
Revisit the assessment periodically. Security risks can change over time, so it's important to conduct a new assessment periodically to ensure that your security controls remain effective.

Disclaimer

The Security Risk Assessment Tool at HealthIT.gov is provided for informational purposes only. Use of this tool is neither required by nor guarantees compliance with federal, state or local laws. Please note that the information presented may not be applicable or appropriate for all health care providers and organizations. The Security Risk Assessment Tool is not intended to be an exhaustive or definitive source on safeguarding health information from privacy and security risks. For more information about the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, please visit the HHS Office for Civil Rights Health Information Privacy website. NOTE: The NIST Standards provided in this tool are for informational purposes only as they may reflect current best practices in information technology and are not required for compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule’s requirements for risk assessment and risk management. This tool is not intended to serve as legal advice or as recommendations based on a provider or professional’s specific circumstances. We encourage providers, and professionals to seek expert advice when evaluating the use of this tool.

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