HIPAA Workstation Security 45 CFR 164.310(c)
Workstation Security is the physical-safeguard counterpart to Workstation Use. It requires physical safeguards for all workstations that access ePHI, restricting access to authorized users.
What the regulation requires
Like Workstation Use, this standard has no separate implementation specifications - the standard is the requirement. The focus is physical: cable locks, positioning away from public view, locked rooms, automatic screen lock.
Implementation specifications
Physical Safeguards for Workstations
Physical controls (positioning, locks, partitions, screen filters, locked rooms) that restrict workstation access to authorized users. (164.310(c))
How Petronella implements this safeguard
Every Petronella HIPAA engagement maps 45 CFR 164.310(c) to documented evidence in your environment. This is what that looks like in practice for the hipaa workstation security standard:
- Workstation positioning audit - every clinical and front-desk monitor turned away from public sight lines, privacy filters applied.
- Automatic screen lock at three minutes of inactivity, enforced through MDM / Group Policy.
- Cable locks on laptops in shared exam rooms, locked-cabinet storage for spare devices.
- After-hours sweep procedure: laptops locked, exam-room workstations logged off.
Built on top of ComplianceArmor for documentation, training records, and BAA inventory, with optional HIPAA managed IT services for the technical safeguard layer and vCISO services for the named Security Official role.
Where most practices fall short
OCR resolution agreements, HHS audit reports, and our own engagements show the same handful of gaps under 45 CFR 164.310(c). We surface these before they become a finding.
- Front-desk monitors visible from the waiting room with active patient charts on screen (the most common physical-safeguard finding).
- Laptops left on counters overnight, often in unlocked exam rooms.
- Screen lock disabled because clinicians find it disruptive - a textbook example of an addressable / required gap that needs documented mitigation.
- Telehealth providers working from coffee shops or shared workspaces with no documented physical safeguard alternative.
Related HIPAA safeguards
HIPAA Workstation Security interacts with several other Security Rule standards. Cover them together for a defensible program.
Need help with HIPAA Workstation Security?
Penny answers before the third ring, asks 3 qualifying questions, then books your free 15. Or jump straight to the platform that runs your HIPAA program.