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Covered entities face HIPAA security audits

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, March 27, 2007

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) says it is in the process of conducting HIPAA audits of covered entities, which includes ambulatory surgery centers.

A source at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta confirmed that the OIG is performing an audit of the technical aspects of the security rule. The audit is apparently not the result of any complaint.

"From a political standpoint, there's been a perception that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been less rigorous than it might have been in enforcing all aspects of HIPAA," says Reece Hirsch, JD, of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP, in San Francisco. "One good way to silence the critics is to fire a shot across the bow and begin a new enforcement initiative."

A source at the OIG notes that the 2007 Work Plan addresses the possibility of these audits in a section dealing with health information technology. "The wider use of electronic medical records and personal health records raises concerns over privacy and security of patient data," the agency said in the document.

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