Compliance, Healthcare
What Is the HITECH Act and Why Does It Matter?
The HITECH Act, formally known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Its primary goal is to promote the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) to improve both clinical outcomes and increase operational efficiency in the healthcare sector.
HITECH at a Glance: Core Objectives
While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) had already established privacy and security requirements for the healthcare sector. The HITECH Act introduced key components that expanded and enforced those rules.
These include:
- Mandatory breach notification requirements (Breach Notification Rule)
- Direct compliance obligations for business associates
- Financial penalties for HIPAA violations — up to $2 million per year per category
- Obligation to disclose serious data protection incidents to authorities (e.g. the Department of Health and Human Services), affected patients and, in some cases, the public
What’s the difference between HIPAA and HITECH — and how do they work together?
HIPAA defines the baseline compliance requirements for handling patient data securely. HITECH, on the other hand, strengthens these provisions by introducing enforcement mechanisms, penalties, and specific HITECH requirements to ensure that covered entities and vendors follow through.
Put simply:
- HIPAA defines the rules.
- HITECH ensures those rules are enforced — and publicly accountable.
Together, they form a comprehensive framework for data privacy and security in healthcare.
HIPAA outlines the core privacy standards healthcare providers must follow. The HITECH Act strengthens them through enforcement, reporting, and expanded liability — especially for vendors.
Note: The 2013 Omnibus Rule integrated many provisions of the HITECH Act directly into HIPAA, creating a more unified enforcement framework.
How HITECH Expanded HIPAA
- Business Associates are now directly liable
- Mandatory breach notifications for ePHI
- Stricter penalties and public exposure of violations
Together, HIPAA and HITECH form a comprehensive legal and technical foundation for data privacy in healthcare.
Stricter Rules for Communication and Documentation in the Healthcare Sector
The requirements of the HITECH Act go far beyond traditional EHR systems (Electronic Health Records): Conversations and digital interactions must also be documented and secured if they involve personally identifiable health information. This includes:
- Telephone calls with patients or between physicians
- Video consultations or telemedicine sessions
- Chats or shared screen content containing medical information
These types of communication are considered protected health information (PHI) and must therefore be encrypted, access-controlled, and documented in an auditable manner when necessary. As a result, IT system monitoring obligations increase significantly.
Incomplete communication records or missing documentation can quickly lead to non-compliance with HITECH — resulting in fines or legal consequences. Inadequate protocols, missing access logs, or unsecured data storage may trigger serious compliance violations, even for organizations outside the United States.
That’s why it is critical to secure communication channels such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, RingCentral, or Genesys to ensure they are used in a HIPAA- and HITECH-compliant manner.
Documentation, Audit Trails, and Patient Access Under HITECH
To meet the requirements of the HITECH Act, healthcare providers must implement comprehensive security measures that ensure end-to-end traceability and the protection of sensitive health information. This includes secure communication platforms, role-based access controls, encrypted data storage, and full adherence to the HIPAA Security Rule.
A key element is the technical implementation of an audit-ready communication infrastructure: All interactions involving protected health information — including video calls, screen sharing, or chats — must be documentable, controllable, and reviewable. This requires solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into existing systems and are purpose-built for healthcare environments.
In addition, organizations should perform regular audits to verify compliance and proactively identify security vulnerabilities. Employee awareness and collaboration with reliable business associates are also critical for meeting regulatory expectations. Only a strategic combination of technology, processes, and training can ensure long-term compliance.
IT decision-makers must ensure that:
- All communication channels (voice, video, chat, screen sharing) are recorded
- Audit trails clearly show who accessed what data and when
- Access rights are role-based and properly logged
- Recorded content can be exported, e.g., for patient access requests or audits
Update on the HIPAA Security Rule:
In its current Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the HHS aims to further specify and strengthen requirements for business associates under the HIPAA Security Rule. The proposal includes:
- Regular risk assessments and appropriate technical safeguards
- Documented security strategies for managing ePHI
- Clear processes for incident detection, reporting, and response
ASC meets these expectations today — through end-to-end encryption, audit-ready data access, role-based controls, and formal Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with every healthcare customer.
Business Associate Responsibility: What HITECH Requires from Vendors
One of the most important changes introduced by the HITECH Act is the direct accountability of business associates. Before HITECH, only healthcare providers (covered entities) were held responsible for HIPAA compliance. Today, third-party vendors that process or store protected health information (PHI) — such as cloud providers, communication platforms, or analytics tools — are also legally bound by the same standards.
This means that business associates must:
- Comply with both the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule
- Implement technical and organizational safeguards for electronic protected health information (ePHI)
- Sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with every covered entity they support
- Report data breaches in accordance with HITECH breach notification requirements
The key elements of the HITECH Act make it clear: service providers who interact with sensitive healthcare data must demonstrate the same level of regulatory compliance as the healthcare organizations they serve.
ASC fulfills these expectations with transparency. As a long-standing provider of secure compliance recording solutions, ASC offers:
- Full BAA coverage
- Secure data hosting in geo-redundant Azure environments
- End-to-end encryption and role-based access
- Integrated audit trails and breach response capabilities
- Native compliance recording for Microsoft Teams and seamless integration for RingCentral, Zoom, and Genesys
In short, ASC acts not only as a vendor — but as a trusted compliance partner under HITECH.
How ASC Supports HITECH-Compliant Recording and Communication
HITECH and HIPAA compliance is about more than protecting data — it's about being able to prove that every interaction involving patient information is handled securely, transparently, and accountably. With communication channels like voice, video, chat, and screen sharing becoming central to care delivery, audit-ready communication recording has become a key component of healthcare compliance strategies.
ASC’s solutions — Recording Insights and Neo Suite — are purpose-built to help healthcare providers and their business associates meet the combined requirements of HIPAA and the HITECH Act. These platforms support organizations in:
- Recording all relevant communication channels involving ePHI
- Encrypting and securely storing recordings in geo-redundant environments (e.g. Microsoft Azure)
- Applying role-based access controls to limit who can access or export sensitive health data
- Maintaining complete audit trails, including user actions, timestamps, and policy context
- Generating export-ready documentation for audits, patient access requests, or breach investigations
In line with HITECH compliance, ASC also provides full Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), complies with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, and integrates seamlessly with major healthcare communication platforms — including Microsoft Teams, RingCentral, Zoom, and Genesys.
This combination of secure recording, compliance automation, and enterprise-grade governance enables healthcare organizations to fulfill the requirements while improving operational efficiency and legal defensibility.
Checklist: Is Your Communication Compliance Solution HITECH-Ready?
Not all recording or communication platforms are built to meet the HITECH compliance requirements. If you're evaluating your current solution or selecting a new one, use this checklist to ensure it supports the enforcement rules under the HITECH Act and aligns with best practices in healthcare compliance.
| Covers all communication channels | Does the solution record voice, video, chat, and screen interactions where PHI may be discussed? | |
| Encrypts and securely stores electronic protected health information (ePHI) | Is your data encrypted in transit and at rest — and hosted in a secure, geo-redundant environment? | |
| Supports audit trails and access logs | Can you trace who accessed what data, when, and for what purpose — in a way that’s audit-ready? | |
| Allows for patient access and export | Can recorded content be exported as part of a patient record in response to access requests? | |
| Includes role-based access controls | Does the platform ensure only authorized users can access or modify sensitive communication data? | |
| Delivers BAA support and vendor accountability | Is your provider legally compliant as a business associate and willing to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA)? | |
| Aligns with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules | Does your system enforce both privacy controls and technical safeguards as required under HIPAA? | |
| Provides compliance automation and alerting | Are there tools for automated risk detection, policy matching, or breach documentation? | |
| Integrates into your healthcare communication ecosystem | Does the solution work natively with platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or RingCentral? | |
| Backed by a trusted compliance partner | Is your vendor experienced in healthcare, audit-tested, and transparent in its responsibilities? |
