HIPAA Compliance Consulting in Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill’s healthcare ecosystem — anchored by UNC Health, UNC School of Medicine, and a thriving network of independent practices and health technology startups — demands HIPAA compliance programs that go beyond checkbox compliance. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. provides comprehensive HIPAA consulting for Chapel Hill organizations: risk assessments, technical safeguard implementation, policy development, workforce training, and ongoing compliance management from a team with 30+ years of Triangle healthcare IT expertise.
BBB Accredited Since 2003 • Founded 2002 • 2,500+ Clients • Zero Breaches Among Clients Following Our Security Program
HIPAA Compliance Services for Chapel Hill Healthcare
We build and maintain your complete HIPAA compliance program — administrative, physical, and technical safeguards — so your Chapel Hill organization is audit-ready year-round.
Security Risk Assessment
The HIPAA Security Risk Assessment is the single most important compliance document — and the first thing OCR requests during an audit. We conduct a thorough assessment of your Chapel Hill practice’s environment, identifying every system that stores, processes, or transmits PHI and evaluating the threats, vulnerabilities, and risk levels associated with each.
Security Implementation
We do not just tell you what to fix — we fix it. Our team implements encryption, access controls, audit logging, multi-factor authentication, email security, endpoint protection, and backup systems that meet every HIPAA technical safeguard requirement. For Chapel Hill practices using Epic, Athena, eClinicalWorks, or other EHR platforms, we ensure the infrastructure supporting those systems is fully compliant.
Policies, Procedures & Training
HIPAA requires over 50 documented policies and procedures covering everything from access management to breach notification. We develop customized policies for your Chapel Hill organization — not generic templates — and deliver annual workforce security training that covers phishing awareness, PHI handling, device security, and incident reporting.
Ongoing Compliance Management
HIPAA compliance is not a one-time event. Threats evolve, staff turns over, technology changes, and regulations get updated. We provide ongoing compliance management for Chapel Hill organizations — annual risk assessment updates, quarterly security reviews, continuous monitoring, policy maintenance, and breach response support to keep your program current.
HIPAA Compliance for Chapel Hill’s Healthcare Community
Chapel Hill is synonymous with healthcare. UNC Health — one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers — anchors a healthcare ecosystem that includes UNC Hospitals, the UNC School of Medicine, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. This academic medical center generates a vast constellation of affiliated practices, specialty clinics, research organizations, and health technology startups throughout Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Independent practices along East Franklin Street, in the Eastowne business district, along US-15/501, and in the growing southern Chapel Hill corridors serve the university community, Orange County residents, and patients who travel from across the state for specialized care. These practices handle enormous volumes of protected health information daily — from appointment scheduling and clinical notes to lab results, imaging studies, and billing records.
Chapel Hill’s proximity to two other major health systems — Duke Health in Durham and WakeMed in Raleigh — creates a competitive healthcare market where practices must meet patient expectations for digital health tools, patient portals, telehealth, and electronic prescribing. Each of these technologies expands the HIPAA compliance surface area. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. helps Chapel Hill healthcare organizations adopt these tools securely with our HIPAA compliance services and cybersecurity protection.
HIPAA Questions from Chapel Hill Healthcare Organizations
Does our Chapel Hill practice affiliated with UNC Health still need its own HIPAA program?
If your practice is a separate covered entity — even if affiliated with UNC Health — you are independently responsible for HIPAA compliance. You must conduct your own risk assessment, maintain your own policies, train your own workforce, and manage your own business associate agreements. UNC Health’s compliance program does not automatically extend to affiliated but independent practices.
We are a health tech startup in Chapel Hill. Does HIPAA apply to us?
If your application or service processes, stores, or transmits protected health information on behalf of a covered entity, you are a business associate under HIPAA and must comply with the Security Rule. Many Chapel Hill health tech startups launched out of the UNC ecosystem discover HIPAA applies to them once they sign their first BAA with a healthcare customer. We help startups build HIPAA compliance into their product from the beginning.
How do you handle HIPAA compliance for telehealth services?
Telehealth introduces specific HIPAA considerations — platform selection, end-to-end encryption, BAAs with video providers, patient consent, recording policies, and secure data transmission. We evaluate your telehealth technology stack, ensure it meets HIPAA requirements, and implement the policies and technical controls needed to protect PHI during virtual visits. The post-pandemic telehealth flexibilities are tightening, and Chapel Hill practices need to ensure permanent compliance.
What happens if our Chapel Hill practice has a data breach?
HIPAA requires breach notification within 60 days to affected individuals, HHS, and potentially the media for breaches affecting 500+ individuals. Having a documented compliance program significantly reduces penalties — OCR considers your organization’s compliance history when determining enforcement actions. We provide breach response support including forensic investigation, scope determination, notification preparation, and OCR communication.
Protect Your Chapel Hill Practice with HIPAA Compliance
Schedule a HIPAA compliance assessment for your Chapel Hill healthcare organization. We will identify gaps, implement the required safeguards, and build a compliance program that protects your patients, your practice, and your reputation.
Petronella Technology Group, Inc. • 919-348-4912 • Raleigh, NC 27606 • BBB Accredited Since 2003 • Founded 2002 • 2,500+ Clients