How to survive a privacy breach audit

The message to healthcare organizations and providers is clear: OCR is aggressively enforcing rules and violations, resulting in hefty fines and causing reputational damage. That said, there are some important steps HIPAA covered entities can take pre-breach and post-breach to help reduce the risks associated with having to report a breach incident, according to Portland, Ore.-based ID Experts. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has been cracking down on its enforcement of the HIPAA/HITECH Privacy, Security and Data Breach Notification Rules, by investigating entities that have reported data breach and other privacy incidents. ID Experts offers 12 steps to help covered entities identify key items in their privacy and security programs that will protect the privacy of their patients before a data breach, and ensure compliance with breach notification regulations after a data breach.