HIPAA Risk Assessment Services in Raleigh-Durham | Comprehensive Healthcare Compliance Evaluation
Protect patient data, satisfy OCR requirements, and eliminate compliance gaps with PTG's thorough HIPAA risk assessment methodology. For over 22 years, Petronella Technology Group has helped healthcare organizations across Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and the greater Triangle, NC region safeguard protected health information and maintain full HIPAA compliance with zero breaches among clients following our security program on record.
HIPAA Violations Are Costly, and Enforcement Is Increasing
Escalating Penalties and OCR Scrutiny
The Office for Civil Rights has dramatically increased its enforcement activity, conducting more audits and investigations than at any point in HIPAA's history. Penalties for violations range from $100 to $50,000 per individual violation, with annual maximums reaching $1.5 million per violation category. Criminal penalties can result in imprisonment of up to ten years. These are not theoretical risks. OCR has collected over $142 million in enforcement actions and settlement agreements, and the pace of enforcement continues to accelerate. Healthcare organizations across the Raleigh-Durham area that fail to conduct a thorough, documented risk analysis face the very real prospect of devastating financial penalties, reputational damage, and loss of patient trust that can take years to rebuild.
Widespread Non-Compliance
Studies consistently show that the majority of healthcare practices, clinics, and medical offices are not fully compliant with HIPAA requirements. Many organizations have never conducted the risk analysis that the HIPAA Security Rule explicitly mandates. Others performed an assessment years ago and have not updated it to reflect changes in their technology environment, workforce, or the evolving threat landscape. Patient data is at risk from ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns targeting healthcare workers, insider threats from improperly trained staff, and inadequate physical safeguards. Without a current, comprehensive risk assessment, healthcare organizations cannot identify their vulnerabilities, cannot prioritize their remediation efforts, and cannot demonstrate compliance if OCR comes calling.
PTG's HIPAA Risk Assessment Methodology
A comprehensive, OCR-aligned assessment framework that identifies every gap in your HIPAA compliance posture and delivers a clear remediation roadmap.
Comprehensive Risk Analysis
PTG's HIPAA risk assessment begins with a thorough analysis of your entire environment where protected health information is created, received, maintained, or transmitted. Our methodology is directly aligned with the guidance published by the Office for Civil Rights and follows the NIST SP 800-30 risk assessment framework that OCR has endorsed as an acceptable approach. We identify every system, application, and workflow that touches ePHI, evaluate the threats and vulnerabilities specific to each, and determine the likelihood and potential impact of a breach. This is not a checkbox exercise — it is a deep, methodical evaluation conducted by HIPAA-specialized analysts who understand both the regulatory requirements and the real-world threats facing healthcare organizations in Raleigh, Durham, and the Research Triangle Park region.
Gap Identification & Prioritization
Once the risk analysis is complete, PTG produces a detailed gap analysis that maps your current safeguards against the full spectrum of HIPAA Security Rule requirements. We evaluate your administrative safeguards including security management processes, workforce security, and information access management. We assess your physical safeguards covering facility access controls, workstation security, and device and media controls. We analyze your technical safeguards including access controls, audit controls, integrity controls, and transmission security. Every identified gap is assigned a risk severity rating based on the likelihood of exploitation and the potential impact on protected health information, giving your organization a clear, prioritized view of where immediate action is required and where longer-term remediation planning is appropriate.
Remediation Planning & Documentation
PTG delivers a comprehensive remediation plan that transforms assessment findings into specific, actionable steps your organization can implement to achieve full HIPAA compliance. Each recommendation includes implementation guidance, estimated timelines, resource requirements, and cost considerations so your leadership team can make informed decisions about budget allocation and project sequencing. Critically, we produce the thorough documentation that OCR expects to see during an audit or investigation. This includes a complete risk analysis report, risk management plan, policies and procedures updates, and supporting evidence that demonstrates your organization's good-faith commitment to protecting patient data. Our documentation has supported clients through OCR inquiries, and our clients maintain a 100% HIPAA audit pass rate. PTG also provides ongoing compliance support through our HIPAA training programs and continuous monitoring services to ensure your compliance posture remains current.
Six Pillars of Our HIPAA Risk Assessment
Every critical dimension of HIPAA compliance is evaluated, documented, and addressed in our comprehensive assessment process.
Administrative Safeguard Review
Administrative safeguards form the foundation of HIPAA compliance and represent the policies, procedures, and organizational actions that govern how your workforce interacts with protected health information. PTG evaluates your security management process, including your risk analysis and risk management practices, to determine whether they meet OCR expectations. We review your workforce security measures to confirm that employees have appropriate access levels, that background checks are conducted where required, and that termination procedures ensure timely revocation of system access. Our assessment examines your information access management policies, security awareness and training programs, incident response procedures, and contingency planning processes. We verify that your organization has designated a HIPAA Security Officer, maintains current policies addressing every standard and implementation specification in the Security Rule, and documents all security-related decisions and activities. Administrative safeguards are the area where OCR most frequently identifies deficiencies, making this component of the assessment particularly critical.
Physical Safeguard Assessment
Physical safeguards protect the tangible systems and facilities where electronic protected health information resides. PTG assesses your facility access controls to ensure that only authorized individuals can physically access areas where ePHI is stored or processed. We evaluate your workstation security practices, including screen lock policies, clean desk procedures, and the physical placement of monitors to prevent unauthorized viewing of patient data. Our assessment reviews your policies for portable devices, removable media, and equipment disposal to confirm that ePHI cannot be recovered from decommissioned hardware. For healthcare organizations with multiple locations across the Raleigh, Durham, and Triangle NC area, we conduct site-specific evaluations recognizing that physical security requirements may vary by facility type, patient volume, and operational characteristics. We document every finding and provide practical, cost-effective recommendations for addressing physical safeguard gaps.
Technical Safeguard Analysis
Technical safeguards are the technology-based controls that protect ePHI and manage access to it. PTG conducts a thorough analysis of your access control mechanisms including unique user identification, emergency access procedures, automatic logoff configurations, and encryption standards for data at rest. We evaluate your audit controls to determine whether your systems generate and retain sufficient audit logs to track all access to ePHI, and whether those logs are reviewed regularly for suspicious activity. Our analysis examines your integrity controls to ensure that ePHI has not been improperly altered or destroyed, and your transmission security measures to verify that all ePHI sent over electronic networks is appropriately encrypted. We assess authentication mechanisms to confirm that individuals and entities accessing ePHI are who they claim to be. This technical deep-dive identifies vulnerabilities that administrative reviews alone cannot detect and provides the evidence-based findings OCR values most during compliance inquiries.
Risk Analysis Documentation
The single most cited deficiency in OCR enforcement actions is the failure to conduct or adequately document a security risk analysis. PTG produces comprehensive risk analysis documentation that meets and exceeds OCR expectations. Our documentation includes a complete inventory of all systems that create, receive, maintain, or transmit ePHI, identification of all reasonably anticipated threats and vulnerabilities, assessment of current security measures, determination of the likelihood and impact of threat occurrence, and assignment of risk levels for each identified vulnerability. We provide a formal risk management plan that documents the security measures selected to reduce identified risks to reasonable and appropriate levels, along with the rationale for every decision. This documentation serves as your primary evidence of compliance during an OCR audit or investigation and demonstrates that your organization takes a systematic, ongoing approach to identifying and mitigating risks to patient data.
Business Associate Agreement Review
HIPAA requires covered entities to execute Business Associate Agreements with every third party that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information on their behalf. Failure to maintain proper BAAs is one of the most common compliance violations and has resulted in significant enforcement penalties. PTG conducts a comprehensive review of all your business associate relationships to identify vendors, service providers, and partners who qualify as business associates under HIPAA. We evaluate your existing BAAs to verify they contain all required provisions, including obligations regarding the use and disclosure of PHI, safeguard requirements, breach notification obligations, and termination provisions. Our review identifies relationships where BAAs are missing entirely, where agreements are outdated and do not reflect current HIPAA requirements, or where the scope of the agreement does not accurately reflect the business associate's actual access to PHI. We provide template agreements and assist with the negotiation and execution of compliant BAAs for every identified relationship.
Breach Notification Readiness
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires covered entities and business associates to notify affected individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services, and in some cases the media, following a breach of unsecured protected health information. The notification requirements are strict, with specific timelines and content requirements that must be met to avoid additional penalties. PTG evaluates your organization's breach notification readiness by assessing whether you have documented breach identification and response procedures, whether your workforce is trained to recognize and report potential breaches, and whether your notification templates and communication channels are prepared for rapid deployment. We review your breach risk assessment methodology to ensure you can accurately determine whether an incident constitutes a reportable breach under the four-factor test established by HHS. Our assessment also evaluates your documentation practices for maintaining the breach log required by the Breach Notification Rule, covering all breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals that must be reported to HHS annually.
Trusted by Healthcare Organizations Across the Triangle
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919-348-4912HIPAA Risk Assessment for Every Healthcare Setting
Our HIPAA assessment methodology adapts to the unique operational characteristics, patient populations, and risk profiles of each healthcare sector across the Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and Triangle NC region.
Medical Practices & Physician Groups
Small and mid-sized medical practices face the same HIPAA requirements as large hospital systems but often lack dedicated compliance staff. PTG provides tailored HIPAA risk assessments that account for the specific workflows, electronic health record systems, and patient communication practices used in physician offices. We evaluate your patient intake processes, prescription management systems, lab result handling, and referral coordination to ensure ePHI is protected at every touchpoint. Our assessments help practices across Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill meet their HIPAA obligations without diverting clinical resources from patient care.
Hospitals & Health Systems
Hospitals operate complex, interconnected technology environments with thousands of users, hundreds of applications, and massive volumes of protected health information flowing across departments, facilities, and affiliated providers. PTG's HIPAA risk assessments for hospitals and health systems address the unique scale and complexity of these environments, evaluating everything from clinical information systems and medical device security to visitor management and biomedical equipment networks. We have experience assessing multi-facility health systems where consistent policy application and centralized compliance governance are essential to maintaining a unified security posture.
Dental Offices & Mental Health Practices
Dental offices and mental health practices handle highly sensitive patient information, including behavioral health records that carry additional confidentiality protections under state and federal law. PTG understands the unique compliance challenges these specialties face, from digital imaging systems and practice management software in dental offices to telehealth platforms and psychotherapy notes in mental health settings. Our assessments evaluate the specific technologies, workflows, and privacy requirements relevant to each specialty, ensuring that your practice meets not only HIPAA requirements but also the heightened confidentiality standards applicable to behavioral health information.
Business Associates & Healthcare Vendors
If your organization provides services to covered entities and accesses protected health information in the process, you are a business associate under HIPAA and are directly subject to the HIPAA Security Rule. PTG provides HIPAA risk assessments specifically designed for business associates, including IT service providers, billing companies, cloud hosting providers, medical transcription services, and health information exchanges. We evaluate your obligations under both HIPAA and your Business Associate Agreements, assess your safeguards for the PHI you handle, and ensure your breach notification procedures meet the requirements that flow down from your covered entity relationships.
Why Choose Petronella Technology Group for HIPAA Risk Assessment
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HIPAA-Specialized Assessment Team
PTG's HIPAA assessment team consists of security professionals who specialize exclusively in healthcare compliance. Our analysts hold certifications including HCISPP (HealthCare Information Security and Privacy Practitioner) and CompTIA Security+, and they maintain deep knowledge of the HIPAA Security Rule, Privacy Rule, and Breach Notification Rule. Unlike general IT firms that treat HIPAA as one of many compliance frameworks they dabble in, our team works with healthcare organizations daily and understands the nuances, edge cases, and practical challenges that medical practices, hospitals, and business associates face when implementing HIPAA-compliant security programs across the Raleigh, Durham, and Triangle region.
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OCR-Aligned Assessment Methodology
Our HIPAA risk assessment methodology is directly aligned with the guidance and expectations published by the Office for Civil Rights. We follow the NIST SP 800-30 risk assessment framework that OCR has specifically endorsed, and our assessment scope covers every standard and implementation specification in the HIPAA Security Rule. When OCR reviews your risk analysis documentation during an audit or investigation, the format, depth, and thoroughness of PTG's deliverables align precisely with what their reviewers expect to see. This alignment is not coincidental — it is the result of more than two decades of experience helping healthcare organizations navigate OCR inquiries and compliance reviews successfully.
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Audit-Ready Documentation Expertise
Documentation is where most healthcare organizations fail during an OCR audit, not because they lack security controls, but because they cannot produce evidence that those controls exist and are functioning as intended. PTG's HIPAA risk assessment produces a complete documentation package that stands up to regulatory scrutiny. This includes the formal risk analysis report, risk management plan, policies and procedures inventory, workforce training records, business associate agreement registry, and supporting evidence for every compliance decision. Our documentation has been tested in real-world OCR interactions, and our clients maintain a 100% audit pass rate because the evidence we produce leaves no room for ambiguity about their compliance commitment.
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Ongoing Compliance Support
HIPAA compliance is not a one-time achievement — it is an ongoing obligation that requires continuous attention as your organization evolves, your technology environment changes, and new threats emerge. PTG provides ongoing compliance support that extends well beyond the initial risk assessment. We offer annual risk assessment updates, continuous security monitoring, workforce HIPAA training programs, policy management services, and incident response planning. When questions arise about new technologies, workflow changes, or business associate relationships, our team is available to provide guidance that keeps your organization on the right side of compliance. This long-term partnership approach is why healthcare organizations across the Triangle trust PTG as their dedicated HIPAA compliance partner.
Frequently Asked Questions About HIPAA Risk Assessments
What is a HIPAA risk assessment and why is it required?
How often should a HIPAA risk assessment be performed?
What are the specific HIPAA Security Rule requirements covered in the assessment?
How much does a HIPAA risk assessment cost?
What documentation does the assessment produce?
What is a Business Associate Agreement and do I need them?
What are the HIPAA breach notification requirements?
Does HIPAA require employee security awareness training?
What are the penalties for HIPAA non-compliance?
How long does a HIPAA risk assessment take to complete?
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