HIPAA for SMB Practices: An 8-Point Readiness Checklist
For small and midsize healthcare practices, HIPAA isn’t just a regulatory checkbox, it’s about patient trust, legal risk, and keeping care uninterrupted. The challenge? Doing it right with limited time and resources.
This practical checklist helps you quickly assess where you stand today, spot the gaps that matter, and prioritize fixes that reduce risk without overloading your team.
Short on time? Download the fillable HIPAA Readiness Checklist to score your practice and share it internally.
Why HIPAA Readiness Matters
- Financial exposure: penalties per violation can add up quickly.
- Operational impact: investigations and downtime disrupt care.
- Reputation risk: one incident can damage patient trust for years.
Being “audit-ready” isn’t about perfection, it’s about consistent, documented controls that scale with your practice.
Your 8-Point HIPAA Readiness Checklist
How to use it: For each control, mark Met / Partially Met / Not Met, add an owner, and set a target date. Aim for quick wins first (automation, training, logging).
Encrypt PHI at rest and in transit
What “good” looks like: full-disk/device encryption, secure email/portal for PHI, TLS for data in transit.
Enable encryption defaults and verify mobile devices are covered.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
What “good” looks like: least-privilege by role, documented approvals for elevated access, quarterly reviews.
Remove stale accounts and unnecessary admin rights.
Audit Logging & Monitoring
What “good” looks like: centralized logs for access/changes, alerting on suspicious activity, defined retention policy.
Turn on audit logs in EHR/EMR and critical systems; schedule a weekly review.
Patch & Vulnerability Management
What “good” looks like: automated OS/app updates, maintenance windows, vulnerability scans with remediation SLAs.
Enable automatic updates on endpoints and set a monthly patch cadence.
Security Risk Analysis (SRA)
What “good” looks like: annual SRA of PHI workflows, risks by likelihood/impact, remediation plan with evidence.
Run a lightweight SRA now and log findings + owners.
Security Awareness Training
What “good” looks like: onboarding + quarterly micro-modules; phishing simulations; signed completion records.
Launch a 20-minute module and one phishing simulation this month.
Incident Response Plan (IRP)
What “good” looks like: roles, triage steps, escalation, evidence handling, notification timelines; tabletop exercise 1–2×/year.
Write a 1-page IRP and schedule a 60-minute tabletop.
Vendor Management & BAAs
What “good” looks like: current BAAs, due diligence on vendor controls, renewal reminders, exit procedures.
Inventory vendors handling PHI and request updated BAAs.
Want a fillable version with scoring and owners? Download the HIPAA Readiness Checklist (PDF).
How Lumen21 Helps SMB Practices Stay Audit-Ready
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
- HIPAA-ready configurations and hardening
- Security risk assessments and remediation plans
- Automated logging, patching, and reporting
- Staff training + phishing simulations
If you’d like help prioritizing what to fix first, book a short consultation.
HIPAA Readiness Checklist
- Self-assessment scoring
- Owner + due date fields
- Quick-win recommendations per control