Proposed changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule are expected to be finalized in late 2022, with compliance enforcement likely beginning in 2023. These changes reflect the health care industry’s increased use of mobile communication, telehealth platforms and electronic health records, as well as updates to right to access requirements that allow patients to request and share their health information for care coordination.
The proposed changes to the Privacy Rule make it more important than ever for organizations to proactively identify and address privacy risks, and ensure they have policies in place for managing risk going forward.
Many invest in security because they understand and appreciate the benefits that result beyond HIPAA compliance, such as keeping your information systems safe from hacking and ransomware attacks. In a similar sense, there are many benefits from Privacy compliance that can affect organizations’ revenue, employee effectiveness, patient retention and more. Privacy compliance is required, but it will benefit you more than you might think.
The Privacy Rule
The Privacy Rule is another component of HIPAA. While there are overlaps, both the Security Rule and Privacy Rule complement each other in a unique way. According to HHS, the HIPAA privacy rule requires covered entities and their business associates to have appropriate physical, administrative and technical safeguards in place to protect the privacy of PHI. The Privacy Rule also gives patients certain rights over their health information and sets limits on the uses and disclosures of PHI without explicit patient authorization. In the event of a breach and subsequent audit, the OCR will determine whether an organization has appropriate policies and procedures on hand. They will also determine Privacy Risk level at the organization and look for evidence that proper risk management practices were routinely performed.
Why Invest In Privacy?
Much like the Security Risk Assessment tool is designed to address the risk of a security incident, our Privacy and Breach Software is designed to appropriately respond to disclosure and privacy risks. According to the Privacy Rule, risk is the likelihood that something unexpected or adverse will occur; but risk can also refer to the impact an adverse event has on an organization, an individual, or a group of individuals. By addressing privacy risks, we significantly reduce the chance that a privacy incident or violation will occur. That doesn’t mean they will never happen; in fact, they almost certainly will. However, by addressing these risks we can also reduce the impact adverse incidents cause when they inevitably occur. Oftentimes the impact of these incidents results in economic loss from considerable fines, or from losing the trust and business of patients en masse.
One Tool For All Your Privacy Needs
The HIPAA One Privacy and Breach Risk Assessment was designed as a NIST-based risk analysis with next-generation features to simplify, automate, and highlight high-risk vulnerabilities with a real-world action plan.
Some of the benefits of HIPAA One’s Privacy Risk Analysis tool include:
- Gap Analysis – Step-by-step guidance on compliance, while highlighting gaps. Results are automatically sorted by their risk level.
- Policy and Procedure Templates – Templates are provided for you to address gaps and correct deficiencies in your organization.
- State Laws Database – Many states have more stringent privacy laws that supersede federal HIPAA requirements. Our software has these state laws automatically included according to your organization’s location.
- Up to date – Privacy regulations change frequently, and our team of professionals monitor closely to ensure you are continually compliant with federal and state regulations.
- 100% Compliant Guarantee – Our software comes with $100,000 Breach Assurance as well as a certified complaint guarantee that you pass an audit.
- Help along the way – Access to our experienced, certified privacy and security audit support team
Interested in how we can help your organization with privacy and breach notification? Talk with our experts or visit our Privacy page to learn more.
