2011 saw surge in HIPAA compliance issues

It's one of the less pleasant healthcare trends of 2011: information is becoming less secure while enforcement is growing more stringent. According to a recent Ponemon research study, data breaches alone have risen by 32%. Ninety-two percent of all healthcare institutions report they've experienced one in the past two years, and each such incident costs an average of $2.2 million. At the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services recently began conducting formal audits of HIPAA-compliance, with accompanying risk of civil and even criminal penalties.