Safeguarding patient health information has always remained one of the top priorities for healthcare. To further this interest, federal advisors have spelled out revisions to the HIPAA Accounting of Disclosures Rule. The Health IT Policy Committee has endorsed the recommendations put forth by its Privacy and Security Tiger Team in its meeting held on December…
In the keynote presentation at the HIMSS Privacy and Security Forum in Boston on 23rd September, the Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Leon Rodriguez addressed the areas of focus for the HIPAA enforcement actions to be undertaken by OCR, and gave specific perspective advice for organizations that are under the purview of…
The HIPAA breach notification rule came into effect in September 2009. According to federal authorities, in these four years, the ‘Wall of Shame’ has seen 674 major breaches that affected a total of 27 million individuals. Although the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been vigorously carrying out HIPAA…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights had earlier announced that the audit program would resume in the fiscal year 2014. The latest update is that federal regulators are planning a permanent HIPAA audit program that would begin next year. According to the OCR Director Leon Rodriguez, the audits under the…
The HIPAA enforcement deadline is here, and healthcare entities have been busy finishing up compliance tasks. Over the past few weeks, many healthcare organizations were seen tackling one of the biggest compliance headaches- Updating business associate agreements-which is necessitated by the HIPAA Omnibus rule where business associates and their subcontractors are, for the first time,…
According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), healthcare entities are estimated to spend 3.28 million hours to comply with the modified HIPAA Omnibus rule. As per a notice published in the Federal Register, out of these 3.28 million hours, nearly 30.655 hours would involve the dissemination and acknowledgement…
The HIPAA omnibus enforcement deadline of September 23rd is fast approaching, and with less than two months left, it’s time for covered entities and business associates to spruce up compliance efforts and tick-off tasks in the to-do list. Although the primary focus should be on updating security and privacy policies and procedures to meet the…
With the HIPAA Omnibus rule compliance deadline set for September 23rd this year, it’s time to accelerate compliance and security measures and make sure you leave no avenue for a breach. Industry experts and law firms have been providing valuable insights into the final rule and have been suggesting best practices for covered entities since…
The HIPAA Omnibus rule has held the attention of healthcare entities for some time now, and with this final rule coming to effect, covered entities have to give significant consideration to the potential civil penalties related to the HITECH Act, which are now associated with the rule. Penalties are no longer limited to the maximum…
While you’re busy preparing for the upcoming HIPAA audit, here’s an important question that you need to address: What determines the size of the penalty for violating HIPAA rules? According to Leon Rodriguez, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights, two key factors play a role in determining the…
