What It Is

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is a US federal regulation establishing national standards for protecting individuals' protected health information (PHI). It includes the Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule, applying to covered entities (providers, plans, clearinghouses) and business associates. Its core is a risk-based, flexible, scalable approach to privacy, security, and breach response.

Key Components

• Privacy Rule (45 CFR Part 164 Subparts A/E): Permitted uses/disclosures, minimum necessary, patient rights.
• Security Rule (Subpart C): Administrative, physical, technical safeguards for ePHI via risk analysis.
• Breach Notification Rule (Subpart D): Presumption-of-breach, 60-day notifications. Centered on governance, BAAs, documentation (6-year retention); enforced by OCR without certification.

Why Organizations Use It

• Legally mandatory for covered entities/business associates.
• Mitigates penalties (up to $2M+ annually), breaches, reputational harm.
• Enables secure TPO data flows, vendor partnerships.
• Builds patient trust, cyber resilience, market differentiation.

Implementation Overview

Phased risk assessment, control deployment (policies, training, MFA, encryption), continuous monitoring. Suits all healthcare sizes nationwide; involves audits, CAPs, no formal cert but documented compliance.

What It Is

GRI Standards, developed by the Global Reporting Initiative, are a modular global framework for sustainability reporting. They focus on disclosing an organization's most significant impacts on the economy, environment, and people using an impact-centric materiality approach, prioritizing actual and potential effects over financial materiality alone.

Key Components

• Universal Standards (GRI 1: Foundation, GRI 2: General Disclosures, GRI 3: Material Topics) for baseline requirements.
• Sector Standards for high-impact industries like oil & gas and mining.
• Topic Standards (e.g., GRI 403: Occupational Health & Safety) with specific disclosures and metrics. Built on principles like accuracy, balance, verifiability; compliance via GRI Content Index for traceability, no certification required.

Why Organizations Use It

Drives regulatory alignment (e.g., EU CSRD), enhances stakeholder trust, enables benchmarking, mitigates risks in HES and supply chains, and supports investor relations via interoperability with SASB/ISSB.

Implementation Overview

Phased approach: materiality assessment, data architecture, management disclosures, content index. Applies to all sizes/industries globally; involves governance, stakeholder engagement, no mandatory audits but assurance recommended. (178 words)