Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act

HIPAA - Security Risk Analysis

Achieve HIPAA Compliance: Protect & Secure Patient’s Data

Considering the need for the security of patient data, the government of the United States conducts audits to check HIPAA compliance under bodies like HHS, OCR, and CMS. It is best to stay prepared for an accidental audit. To comply with the official demands, Caremedix provides a complete risk analysis to save you from any penalty or legal action.
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Types of Audits And Their
Potential Chances

There are various types of audits named to represent the severity of consequences. Some of them are as follows:

Shark Attack

Just like a real shark attack, a severe HIPAA audit is very rare, and if done, can result in serious repercussions, most probably one in 11,000,000 audits.

Random HIPAA Audit

It refers to a potential audit that occurs very rarely like one in 10,000 audits.

Random MU Audit

It is done by an organization permitted by the Office of Civil Rights and it occurs once in 10 audits.

HIPAA Violation Categories And Their Respective Penalties

These audits verify the defiance of HIPAA privacy, security, and OMNIBUS rules. The Intensity of violation penalties depends on the level of negligence. These penalties range from $100 – $50,000 per violation or per patient record. It has a maximum penalty of $1.5million per year. Moreover, criminal charges can also lead to jail time.
There are two major categories of charges and fines. These are:
Reasonable Cause

It's fine ranges from $100 to $50,000  per incident and does not involve any jail time.

Willful Neglect

Its fine ranges from $10,000 to $50,000 per incident and it may result in criminal charges as well.

What are HIPAA and EPHI?

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had to amend the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). It introduced regulations protecting the privacy and security of health information. To comply with this demand, HHS published a set of rules known as the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule.

The Privacy Rule

The Privacy Rule, or Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information provides the national standards to safeguard certain health information. Likewise, The Security Rule, or The Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information provides a set of national security standards to protect information that is transferred electronically.

The Security Rule

The Security Rule applies the protections prescribed in the Privacy Rule. It is done by addressing the “covered entities” commonly known as technical and non-technical safeguards by the organizations. These safeguards are put in place to secure individuals’ “Electronic Protected Health Information” (e-PHI).

Source: Summary of the HIPAA rules and ePHI

Three Cores to Construct Security Risk Analysis

Caremedix has three cores to construct a security risk analysis under the Security Rule Mandate.

Technical Safeguards

Example:

  • We access and audit controls for any software with ePHI (EHR, RCM), or access to the prescribed rules and other documents that contain PHI.
  • We work to prevent the unauthorized destruction of PHI
Physical Safeguards

Example:

  • We manage device and media controls
  • We safeguard facility access control
Administrative Safeguards

Example:

  • We look into workplace access to PHI and security
  • We make contingency plans

HIPAA Security Risk Analysis Process - How We Help You Achieve Maximum Compliance?

Medical practices must have a well-documented but implemented Security Risk Analysis protecting Electronic Patient Health Information. It helps them to pass an OCR audit without any hindrance. At Caremedix, we perform this task with utmost vigilance to ensure a secure billing process within the provided time and as per the size of your practice.

Our experienced team gets you:

  • Complete the module Risk Assessment
  • Constructing written policies and procedures
  • Designating a privacy and security officer within the place of service
  • Disaster recovery plans
  • HIPAA-related employee training included within the service offering (uncapped)
  • Protected Health Information (PHI) disposal logs
  • Security incident monitors and incident reporting guidelines

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