Workstation and physical security should be a collaborative effort between the privacy officer and security officer in your organization, but someone, regardless of who, should take the lead on physical security issues.
Most HIPAA covered entities have become steadfast in ensuring their digital environments that house ePHI are safe and secure, but this should not be your organization’s only concern. In its May OCR Cybersecurity Newsletter, OCR encouraged healthcare organizations to not forget about workstation security and physical security when it comes to protecting ePHI.
Your organization does not have to look far to see how important it is for your business associates (BA) to comply with HIPAA. Take a glance at the OCR website for breaches involving 500 or more patients. BAs are regularly involved in these breaches along with covered entities (CE). However, the bad press almost always goes to the CEs.
This month's HIPAA Q&A answers readers' questions about doctor's notes for employers, checking a neighbor's medical records, retaining records of out-of-state patients, and training temporary nursing staff.
The HIPAA Security Rule requires information systems activity review, but a number of covered entities and business associates have yet to implement a robust security program that includes monitoring audit logs. Per the preamble to the Omnibus Rule, if audit logs are generated and you’re not looking at them periodically, that could be considered willful neglect.
Protecting your patients’ PHI does not mean just having a breach prevention plan in place and a strong risk analysis program. It’s also about preparing a breach contingency plan, because in today’s world it’s almost inevitable that you’ll experience a breach.
A legislative effort is underway to align some of the provisions of 42 CFR Part 2—the privacy regulation that governs the use and disclosure of substance use disorder information maintained by programs known as “Part 2” programs—with HIPAA.
