Massachusetts Healthcare Compliance.
Massachusetts is the state most often cited as having gone furthest on prescriptive cybersecurity rules. 201 CMR 17.00 obliges any organization holding personal information of MA residents — including providers — to maintain a Written Information Security Program (WISP) with named encryption, access-control, and vendor-management controls. The breach statute layers on AG/OCABR notice and mandatory credit monitoring. For a MA practice, the SRA workflow needs to produce a WISP, not just a HIPAA risk analysis.
At a glance
60days
Massachusetts requires notice as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay. Practices typically align to HIPAA's 60-day clock. AG and Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) notice required. 201 CMR 17.00 imposes a standing duty to maintain a Written Information Security Program (WISP) with specific encryption and access-control controls.
Massachusetts Attorney General + Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation
- Standards for the Protection of Personal Information of Residents of the Commonwealth201 CMR 17.00
Mandates a Written Information Security Program (WISP) with administrative, technical, and physical safeguards including encryption of personal information transmitted across public networks, on portable devices, and at rest. Applies to any entity that owns or licenses personal information of MA residents.
- Massachusetts Data Breach Notification StatuteMass. Gen. Laws ch. 93H
Breach notice to AG, OCABR, and individuals; mandatory provision of credit monitoring (18 months general, 42 months for credit-bureau breaches).
- HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules45 CFR Parts 160 & 164
The federal baseline that all U.S. covered entities and business associates meet. HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces.
How Massachusetts goes further than HIPAA.
The breach window in Massachusetts aligns with HIPAA’s 60-day individual-notice deadline. State-law overlays here are mostly about who else gets notified, what the personal- information definition covers, and whether any named statute (CMIA, BIPA, MHMDA, HB 300, 201 CMR 17.00, SHIELD) adds substantive duties. Notice flows through Massachusetts Attorney General + Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation in addition to HHS/OCR federally.
Related compliance guides
Turn this overlay into a defensible SRA.
Massachusetts's overlay layers on top of HIPAA's federal floor. The free SRA readiness check walks a small practice through discovery, threat model, controls, and gap analysis, then assembles the review-ready binder — policies, training logs, BAAs, and a breach playbook tuned to the 60-day clock and the Massachusetts Attorney General + Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation notification path.
D3rx is a healthcare-billing and compliance research aid maintained by D3rx Inc. Articles are drafted by an LLM (Anthropic Claude) against primary HHS, OCR, CMS, eCFR, NIST, and state-regulator publications, and reviewed for restraint and source fidelity by the D3rx team.
Reviewer status: a named credentialed reviewer (CHC, CHPC, or healthcare attorney) is being engaged. Until that engagement is finalized, this page does not claim credentialed review.
Related across the archive
- ComplianceMassachusetts 201 CMR 17.00 for Healthcare: The Written Information Security ProgramMassachusetts 201 CMR 17.00 vs HIPAA for medical practices: mandatory WISP, encryption requirements, M.G.L. c. 93H breach notice, 93A private right of action.
- ComplianceHIPAA Breach Notification: The 60-Day Window Step-by-StepFrom discovery you have 60 calendar days to notify individuals, HHS, and possibly media. Here is the procedure that actually protects the practice.
- ComplianceSecurity Risk Analysis Template (2026): What Auditors Actually WantA 2026 HIPAA Security Risk Analysis template auditors actually read: NIST SP 800-30 scoring, ePHI asset inventory, every required 164.308 field, threat list.
- RegulationCalifornia Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA, Cal. Civ. Code 56-56.37)California state law providing broader patient confidentiality protections than HIPAA for medical information held by providers, contractors, and certain employers.
- RegulationColorado Privacy Act (CPA, C.R.S. § 6-1-1301 et seq.)Colorado comprehensive consumer privacy law with consumer rights, controller/processor obligations, universal opt-out mechanism requirement, and an AG enforcement framework with HIPAA carve-outs.
- RegulationConnecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA, Public Act 22-15)Connecticut comprehensive consumer data privacy law with consumer rights, controller/processor obligations, and an AG enforcement framework — with substantial healthcare carve-outs.
- RegulationFlorida Information Protection Act (FIPA, Fla. Stat. § 501.171)Florida data breach notification and information security law requiring covered entities to maintain reasonable security and to notify affected individuals and the AG of breaches within 30 days.
- RegulationIllinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA, 740 ILCS 14)Illinois state law regulating the collection, retention, use, and destruction of biometric identifiers, with a private right of action and statutory damages per violation.
Last reviewed May 23, 2026.
This page is a research aid for compliance teams. It does not certify compliance with any state or federal law, provide legal advice, replace counsel, or guarantee an audit outcome. State statutes are amended frequently — verify citations and links against the cited primary sources before acting. The practice remains responsible for adopting and maintaining its compliance program.