HITECH requirements quietly force healthcare to take better care of patient data. Fear of OCR enforcement is one reason for action.

ALEXANDRIA, VA, US, May 1, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received 344,823 reports of HITECH breaches affecting fewer than 500 patients as of March 31, 2018, according to reporting by Health Information Privacy/Security Alert.

Coupled with 2,267 reports of breaches affecting more than 500 patients published on the Wall of Shame, OCR indicated that there have been at least 347,090 breaches in which patient data may have been stolen, lost, hacked, inappropriately accessed or disclosed since September 2009 when HITECH breach reporting was first required.

In March 2018 alone, OCR's statistics revealed that the agency received 29 reports of major HITECH breaches, affecting approximately 268,210 patients. No Business Associates (BAs) were involved in the incidents reported in March, according to an analysis by Health Information Privacy/Security/Alert.

Healthcare providers were responsible for 26 of the breaches. Health plans accounted for the other three.

An updated analysis by Health Information Privacy/Security Alert also found that in February, OCR received 24 reports of breaches affecting 303,180 patients. BAs were involved in two breaches; health plans were involved in seven; and healthcare providers were involved in 15.

In January, OCR received reports of 22 breaches affecting 433,149 patients. Healthcare providers accounted for 20 of those reports and health plans were involved in two. No BAs were involved in breaches reported in January.

Overall, OCR has received 2,267 reports of major breaches affecting approximately 177,743,496 from Sept. 2009 through March 31. 2018.

To further explore small breach reporting and other less obvious forms of HIPAA and HITECH enforcement, Melamedia, LLC, publishers of Health Information Privacy/Security is sponsoring a 90-minute webinar on May 24: The Hidden World of OCR's HIPAA Enforcement.

"There is a lot more to HIPAA enforcement than resolution agreements and audits. Healthcare organizations, contractors and mobile app developers face perilous times if they fail to recognize this," explained Dennis Melamed, editor of Health Information Privacy/Security Alert. "Most people don't realize that healthcare entities and their contractors have had to either change their practices or discipline employees tens of thousands of times since 2009 because of HITECH."

Katalin Sugar
Melamedia
7037045665
email us here

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