Patient Privacy:
Focus On Portable Device Protection In Your HIPAA Compliance Plan
Published on Tue Aug 23, 2011
Home care providers face special privacy risks. With HIPAA enforcement looking to ramp up in the near future, now's the time to make compliance with the patient privacy regulation a priority for your home care organization. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' recent appointment of a former Department of Justice official to the top HHS Office for Civil Rights spot may indicate that providers can expect HIPAA enforcement to be on the rise, experts indicate. Former state and federal prosecutor Leon Rodriguez was chief of staff and deputy assistant attorney general for the DOJ Civil Rights Division before becoming OCR director. (OCR is in charge of enforcing HIPAA requirements.) And the health care reform law increased penalties for HIPAA violations, notes attorney John Gilliland with The Gilliland Law Firm in Indianapolis. The law also gave state attorneys general the right to enforce the patient privacy regulation. "There's no question that HIPAA enforcement [...]