Health Information Management

CT breach notification case proves HITECH's worth

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 4, 2010

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Take one look at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) breach notification website—you’ll find 166 reasons why the healthcare industry must do a better job of protecting patient privacy.

That website is great to have: It is a public list where healthcare organizations can share lessons learned, analyze numbers and trends, and get a good look at which facilities are making big mistakes, some of which affect millions of patients.

But what’s the real take-home when Congress writes a law like HITECH?

Is the goal to instill fear of non-compliance? Is it nabbing a high profile offender such as Rite Aid, which paid $1 million to settle potential HIPAA violations? Is it keeping entities on their toes for the HITECH-required periodic audits?

Those are certainly pluses.

But since HITECH was signed into law in February 17, 2009, the best example of how it’s actually worked for the better may be in Connecticut. There, new HITECH powers unleashed a trickle-down effect that ultimately may help that state better comply with HIPAA.

Read the full story on HIPAA Update.



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