HIPAA AUDITS COMING IN 2015

January 6, 2015 at 1:42 pm | Posted in Department of Public Health, ePHI, Health and Human Services, HIPAA | Leave a comment
Tags: Department of Health and Human Services, HIPAA, OCR, Office of Civil Rights, PHI

The Office of Civil Rights  in the Department of Health and Human Services has announced that, among other entities such as healthcare providers, it will audit approximately 100 employer sponsored health plans and 50 business associates in 2015. It is reported that:

• Covered entities and business associates will have two weeks following receipt to respond to the initial data requests. OCR will not consider data submitted late.
• OCR will conduct audits remotely through “desk audits.” Desk audits will be made using an updated audit protocol which OCR has not yet made available.
• Audit participants will not have an opportunity to provide clarifications or supplemental information after responding to the initial data request.

Within 60 days following their submissions, audit participants will be presented with a draft version of OCR’s final report for review prior to publication. If your health plan has access to an employee’s protected health information (PHI), at a minimum, the following should be done:

• Adopt written HIPAA policies and procedures addressing the HIPAA privacy, security, and breach notification rules;
• Designate a HIPAA privacy official and a HIPAA security official;
• Conduct a detailed analysis of the risks and vulnerabilities of electronic PHI;
• Train those members of your workforce who have access to PHI.
• Identify any HIPAA Business Associates, make sure you have a HIPAA Business Associate agreement with them and alert them to your expectations of them in regards to safekeeping your plan’s PHI