Feds To Conduct HIPAA Phase 2 Audits, Starting In Early 2016

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is preparing to launch the next phase of audits under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to assess how well health care provider organizations and associates protect patient privacy. The audits are slated to begin in early 2016. The audits will include covered entities that handle patient health information and their third-party business associates.

To support the HIPAA audits, HHS contracted with FCi Federal, which with its partner Lunarline, will conduct the audits at 13 OCR offices across the United States . . .