HIPAA privacy and security officers often spend a lot of time and effort protecting their healthcare organization from the threat posed to its PHI by outsiders. Most organizations do a pretty good job of recognizing the threats to critical assets from outside their own perimeter. However, they must also not ignore the threat that comes from those inside the organization, said Randall F. Trzeciak, who spoke at the Fifth HIPAA Summit West in September in San Francisco.
It's almost that time of year again, when holidays abound and people's lives tend to get even more hectic than normal. As a manager, it means planning holiday parties, dealing with requests for time off, and a myriad of other tasks.
As we begin to close out the year, it seems to be a good time to reflect on some of the challenging standards hospitals faced in Joint Commission surveys during 2011.
Briefings on HIPAA has obtained a copy of the $9.2 million contract with KPMG, LLP, the company OCR hired to conduct HIPAA compliance audits. The contract reveals some details about what healthcare organizations can expect when the audits begin.