ClearData on Wednesday announced that it has developed new cloud-based dashboard and reporting technology to help its healthcare customers maintain their compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. 

The rule, which is more stringent than HIPAA, will have big implications for the way patient information, consent forms, privacy monitoring and more are managed by hospitals and health systems in Europe. And it goes into effect in two days.

The company pointed out that, over the past year or so, IT and compliance experts in the U.S. have been increasingly alarmed by the scope and impact of GDPR, with many realizing that its requirements can impact American providers, not just those based in Europe.

[Also: Europe's GDPR privacy law is coming: Here's what US health orgs need to know]

U.S. healthcare organization are required to be compliant with the regulation if they process personal data of EU residents; have an established presence in the EU; processes data for goods and services offered in the EU, or monitor the behavior of EU individuals.

Fines for noncompliance with GDPE could potentially cost either 4 percent of a health system's gross global annual income or $23.4 million – whichever number is larger.

With the new tool, ClearData healthcare customers can turn on GDPR mapping in their existing compliance dashboard, similar to what exists for HIPAA and GxP security and compliance monitoring, said Chris Bowen, ClearData’'s founder and chief privacy and security officer. That will offer continuously-updated, auditable visualizations to show whether they're staying compliant across GDPR’s technical requirements.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com