164.310(b) Physical Safeguards

Media Controls

High Risk Moderate Medium

Implement policies and procedures that govern the receipt and removal of hardware and electronic media that contain ePHI into and out of a facility, and the movement of these items within the facility.

Implementation Guidance

Develop comprehensive media control policies including:
• Media receipt and removal procedures
• Media movement and tracking procedures
• Media sanitization and disposal procedures
• Media inventory and management procedures
• Media security and protection procedures
• Media access control procedures

Key components:
- Media receipt and removal
- Media movement tracking
- Media sanitization
- Media inventory management
- Media security controls
- Media access controls

Required Documentation

• Media control policies and procedures
• Media receipt and removal procedures
• Media movement and tracking procedures
• Media sanitization and disposal procedures
• Media inventory and management procedures
• Media security and protection procedures
• Media access control procedures

Best Practices

• Develop comprehensive media control policies
• Implement effective media tracking
• Use proper media sanitization methods
• Maintain accurate media inventory
• Implement strong media security controls
• Control access to media
• Regular review and update of procedures

Common Violations

• Lack of media control policies
• Inadequate media tracking procedures
• Insufficient media sanitization
• Poor media inventory management
• Inadequate media security controls
• Insufficient media access controls

Testing Procedures

• Review media control policies
• Test media tracking procedures
• Verify media sanitization methods
• Review media inventory management
• Test media security controls
• Verify media access controls
• Review policy compliance

Implementation Resources

Download expert-developed templates and checklists to implement this control:

Quick Facts

Control ID 164.310(b)
Category Physical Safeguards
Risk Level High
Difficulty Moderate
Est. Cost Medium
Timeframe 2-4 months
Last Updated Mar 1, 2026

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