What are physical safeguards according to HIPPA?

According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), physical safeguards are measures that protect the physical security of protected health information (PHI). These safeguards include:

* Access control: The covered entity must implement policies and procedures to control access to PHI, including limiting access to authorized personnel only, requiring unique user IDs and passwords, and auditing access to PHI.

* Environmental controls: The covered entity must implement policies and procedures to ensure that PHI is stored in a secure environment, including controlling access to physical locations where PHI is stored, preventing unauthorized removal or disposal of PHI, and maintaining appropriate temperature and humidity controls.

* Disposal: The covered entity must implement policies and procedures to ensure that PHI is disposed of in a secure manner, including shredding, burning, or pulping PHI that is no longer needed.

* Transmission security: The covered entity must implement policies and procedures to ensure that PHI is transmitted securely, including using encryption or other methods to protect PHI from unauthorized access during transmission.