HIPAA policies for solo therapists in Massachusetts

What federal law requires of every Massachusetts practice

The HIPAA Security Rule (45 CFR § 164.316) requires written policies covering ten domains: designated privacy and security officials, risk analysis, workforce sanctions, access management, audit controls, contingency planning, breach notification, business associate agreements, workforce training, and device and media security. Policies must be retained for six years, carry effective dates, and be updated when your practice or the rules change.

What Massachusetts adds

Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00 requires every business holding residents' personal information to maintain a Written Information Security Program (WISP) — a documentation requirement that overlaps with, but is separate from, HIPAA policies.

The practical standard: adopted, dated, versioned

Regulators don't ask whether you own policy documents — they ask for the policy in effect on a given date, with its adoption record and revision history. A static template pack can't answer that. A policy set with attestations, effective dates, and version history can.