January 27, 2016, written by Kevin McCarthy
With the new year in full swing, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is set to begin Phase 2 of its HIPAA audits program, targeting specific areas of noncompliance in healthcare organizations and among business associates who come in direct contact with protected health information.
In late 2014, we conducted a study to determine how knowledgeable medical practices and billing companies were about HIPAA’s privacy and security regulations and if they were adequately prepared should they be chosen for an audit.
Survey Results
Our findings revealed several areas of concern, specifically that 50 percent of medical practice owners and managers had not performed a required PHI risk analysis. But what's even more troubling was when we asked respondents who work in a medical practice if they had a HIPAA compliance plan in place and 42 percent said they were unsure.
Now, a little more than a year later, we’re conducting a follow-up survey to see just how much, if any, the industry's knowledge and level of compliance has changed or if additional resources and education are still required.
The survey should only take about 10 minutes to complete and is open to anyone in the healthcare industry, but is primarily geared towards individuals who work in medical practices and larger healthcare organizations. Your participation is strongly encouraged and rest assured that all responses will remain anonymous.
Take the New Survey
Are you ready to see how you stack up against your peers? Take our 2016 HIPAA Survey today!