Expands HIPAA Compliant Data Center Services to WA

CHEYENNE, WY – DECEMBER 01, 2015 – Green House Data, a national provider of data center services including cloud hosting, colocation, and disaster recovery, announced today that its three Washington state data centers have passed their first annual compliance audits to meet HIPAA standards for informational controls, reporting, and security.

Linford and Co, LLP independently audited the facilities, located in Everett, Wash; Bellingham, WA; and Seattle’s Westin Building Exchange, the third largest carrier hotel in the United States, with access to a plethora of fiber providers as well as robust telecom, power, and support equipment.

HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, includes measures that health agencies must take to protect electronic health data, including a rigorous examination of physical security, administrative process, and technical safeguards. By passing this audit, Green House Data can now provide HIPAA compliant cloud and colocation in these Washington facilities.

“The certification of our Washington data delivers on our goal of universal compliance across all of our locations and services,” said Shawn Mills, CEO of Green House Data. “We want companies of all industries to feel comfortable hosting their data and applications with us, whether they need something as specific a Business Associate Agreement for healthcare information or just peace of mind that their e-mail and cloud storage is secure.”

The addition of these data centers to Green House Data’s HIPAA compliant stable comes at a time when outsourced data hosting is catching on among health organizations.

“Healthcare provider CIOs are becoming more comfortable with the public cloud as an IT service delivery option, and have begun to adopt cloud-based solutions where the benefits are clear and the risks are manageable,” wrote Barry Runyon, Research VP at Gartner. “The cloud service provider must be able to demonstrate, in a transparent and verifiable manner, that it has exercised a standard of due care with respect to HIPAA rules and guidelines.” ¹

Along with HIPAA certification, Linford and Co examined and passed the facilities for SSAE 16 Type II compliance. The SSAE 16 Type II standard includes SOC 1 and SOC 2 certification and is considered essential for service organizations that will host financial and other sensitive data.

While there is no independent auditing standard in place, the company also meets the requirements for PCI-DSS compliant hosting, mandatory for all companies who will handle credit card information.

“For industries with strong security or compliance concerns, Green House Data IT infrastructure now offers a solid option for hosting on the West Coast, as well as from our flagship in Cheyenne, Wyoming,” said Mills.

¹ Source: Gartner, Inc., Market Guide for Cloud Service Providers to Healthcare Delivery Organizations, Barry Runyon, October 30, 2015.

ABOUT GREEN HOUSE DATA

With data center facilities and cloud installations in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Portland, Ore.; Piscataway, N.J.; Orangeburg, N.Y.; and now Seattle, Everett, and Bellingham, Wash., Green House Data is uniquely positioned to handle new, legacy, and location-based workloads, and offer disaster recovery services anywhere in North America. The company is a certified VMware provider, SSAE 16 Type II and HIPAA compliant, as well as a B-Corp and EPA Green Power Partner. Visit www.greenhousedata.com to learn more.