HIPAA Compliance for Clinics in California

California clinics must comply with federal HIPAA plus state-specific regulations. Here's what you need to know.

HIPAA is federal law, but California has additional requirements. You need to comply with both federal HIPAA and California-specific regulations including the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Federal HIPAA Requirements

All California clinics must comply with:

• HIPAA Privacy Rule
• HIPAA Security Rule
• HIPAA Breach Notification Rule
• All 9 required policies
• Risk assessment
• Staff training
• Business Associate Agreements (BAAs)

See our Complete HIPAA Compliance Guide for federal requirements.

California-Specific Requirements

1. California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA)

What it covers:

• Medical information privacy
• Patient consent requirements
• Breach notification (stricter than HIPAA)
• Patient access rights

Key differences from HIPAA:

• Stricter breach notification timeline (5 business days vs 60 days)
• Additional patient rights
• Stricter consent requirements for some disclosures

2. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

What it covers:

• Personal information privacy (non-PHI)
• Consumer rights (access, deletion, opt-out)
• Disclosure requirements

How it affects healthcare:

• Most patient data is covered by HIPAA (not CCPA)
• Some non-medical data may be subject to CCPA
• Marketing data may be subject to CCPA

3. California Breach Notification

Requirements:

• Notify patients within 5 business days (stricter than HIPAA's 60 days)
• Notify California Attorney General for breaches affecting 500+ residents
• Additional notification requirements

HIPAA requirement: 60 days California requirement: 5 business days

You must comply with the stricter requirement (5 business days).

California HIPAA Compliance Checklist

1. Federal HIPAA Compliance

• All 9 required policies
• Risk assessment
• Staff training
• BAAs in place
• Documentation organized

2. California-Specific Compliance

• CMIA compliance
• CCPA compliance (if applicable)
• Stricter breach notification procedures
• California-specific patient rights documented

3. Breach Notification

• Procedures for 5-business-day notification
• California Attorney General notification procedures
• Documentation of breach response

Common Compliance Mistakes in California

Based on enforcement data:

1. Missing California breach notification (68% of violations)

   • Not notifying within 5 business days
   • Not notifying California Attorney General

2. Inadequate CMIA compliance (54% of violations)

   • Not understanding CMIA requirements
   • Missing California-specific consent forms

3. CCPA confusion (61% of violations)

   • Not understanding when CCPA applies
   • Missing CCPA compliance for applicable data

How to Get Compliant

Step 1: Achieve Federal HIPAA Compliance

• Complete all federal HIPAA requirements
• See our Complete HIPAA Compliance Guide

Step 2: Add California-Specific Requirements

• Review CMIA requirements
• Review CCPA requirements (if applicable)
• Update breach notification procedures
• Update patient consent forms

Step 3: Update Policies

• Add California-specific requirements to policies
• Update breach notification policy (5 business days)
• Update patient rights documentation

Step 4: Train Staff

• Initial HIPAA training
• California-specific training
• Breach notification training
• Document all training

Step 5: Organize Documentation

• Federal HIPAA documentation
• California-specific documentation
• Breach notification procedures
• Version control

HIPAA Hub for California Clinics

What you get:

• ✅ All 9 required HIPAA policies (customizable for California)
• ✅ California-specific policy templates
• ✅ Breach notification procedures (5 business days)
• ✅ Risk assessment tool
• ✅ Staff training modules
• ✅ Evidence vault (organize all documentation)
• ✅ $499/year

Value: Complete compliance (federal + California) without hiring a compliance officer ($50-100k/year).

Get Your California HIPAA Compliance Checklist

Download the complete checklist with California-specific requirements:

Related Resources

• Complete HIPAA Compliance Guide
• HIPAA Breach Notification Requirements
• HIPAA Audit Checklist

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This guide is based on OCR enforcement data, HIPAA regulations, and California state laws. For personalized compliance guidance, consider using HIPAA Hub.