The OCR continues to crack down on HIPAA breaches, but it also paused to take a look back at past incidents in two annual reports to Congress. The reports, which were released in May, summarize the reported 2011?2012 HIPAA breach and compliance activities as required by the HITECH Act. Although the data presented in the reports details the events from prior years, the causes of the breaches reported to and investigated by OCR are still relevant?and problematic?for healthcare organizations today.
Cybersecurity threats, cloud computing, proliferation of mobile device technology, and the pervasiveness of social media directly affect healthcare operations and privacy and information security programs?as does the explosion of data, which makes safeguarding information assets increasingly more important and difficult.
When you think about a data breach, you probably think about things like maximum fines and penalties of $1.5 million, willful neglect, corrective action plans, and so forth, right? Well, think again.
To fully understand where your organization's risks lie, you not only need to have a firm grasp on risk analysis and assessment processes, you need to define these processes as well.
