164.312(b) Audit Controls (Standard)
Implement hardware, software, and procedural mechanisms that record and examine activity in information systems that contain or use ePHI. NIST recommends central log management aligned to SP 800-92.
Source: HIPAA Security Rule, 164.312(b). The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open HIPAA Security Rule in the compliance library.
Applies to covered entities and business associates. An addressable specification can be met by a documented, reasonable alternative.
These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- Central log management deployment · SIEM / log platform
- Log retention configuration · SIEM / log platform
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
none for this control
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Logging standard · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- SIEM use case catalog · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Application-level audit logs missing
- Logs retained less than six years where applicable
- Admin actions on log system not logged separately
Do this for your whole sheet
Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.
Build my evidence sheet164.312(a)(2)(iv) Encryption and Decryption (Addressable) · 164.312(c)(1) Integrity (Standard)