Health Data Management reported in its April 29, 2010, online HDM Daily that “[a] former researcher at the UCLA School of Medicine has been sentenced to four months in federal prison for violations of the HIPAA privacy rule.” You may access and read the article by Joseph Goedert, “Prison for HIPAA Privacy Violater“. On the same day, April 29, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported on its Web site 67 entities reporting “Breaches Affecting 500 or More Individuals” over the period September 22, 2009 to March 19, 2010. That is up from the 36 that OCR listed on its initial…
Tag: privacy breach
Device and Media Controls: What This HIPAA Security Rule Physical Safeguard Standard Means
This is the fourth and last Physical Safeguard Standard of the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Security Rule. It has four implementation specifications: disposal, media re-use, accountability, and data backup and storage. The first two are required; the last two are addressable. Addressable does not mean “optional.” Rather, an addressable implementation specification means that a covered entity must use reasonable and appropriate measures to meet the standard. As we have noted in earlier postings on HIPAA.com, business associates of covered entities will be required to comply with the Security Rule safeguard standards, beginning February 17, 2010. This requirement is one of the HITECH Act provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act…
Security Management Process: Risk Analysis-What to Do and How to Do It
Security Management Process is the first administrative standard of the Security Rule, and Risk Analysis is the implementation specification. Each covered entity is required to conduct a risk analysis or assessment to determine vulnerabilities and threats and to identify and put in place risk mitigation measures for safeguarding electronic protected health information. Electronic protected health information is the content of the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Standard Transactions and of the expected growing adoption of clinically-based electronic health record systems. What to do: Conduct an accurate and thorough assessment of potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information held by the covered entity. How to…