Probability of HIPAA audits is increasing as the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) continues to police HIPAA violations aggressively. Data breach has become a rampant problem in the healthcare industry and in order to prevent an audit, practices must address their potential issues under HIPAA.
A few weeks ago, the National Law Review reported that “covered entities” under HIPAA (health providers, health plans or clearing houses) are now receiving pre-audit screening surveys from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR). These surveys are part of the selection process for which organizations will be targeted for upcoming audits on their compliance with the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Standards. These are technically called Phase 2 Audits.
What if YOU receive(ed) a notice of a HIPAA audit?
If you receive a letter from OCR telling you that your organization has been selected for an audit, you will have only two weeks to respond to the document request. The documents must be current and on time. Late submissions will not be considered. OCR will assess HIPAA compliance solely on the submitted documents. Organizations will not have the opportunity to clarify their responses or provide additional information. Failure to respond to an audit request may prompt OCR to refer the matter for regional compliance review.
In order to prepare for the possibility of a HIPAA audit, you must assess your organization’s HIPAA compliance posture and include the following activities as part of that assessment: This is where Unatek can help, we provide the following:
Satisfaction that will make you return year after year
Unatek assessors are accurate, experienced, easy to work with, and responsive to your needs. Risk Analysis and HIPAA compliance is not a single event. Clients enjoy working with Unatek assessors so much that over 90% of customers return for security assessments the following year.
A partner in compliance
Unatek assessors offer a unique blend of compliance, security, and workflow experience to efficiently drive results. Where other assessors act as a bottleneck, our assessors work with you as a team to create the shortest path possible to accurate HIPAA compliance validation.
Complete HIPAA audit solution
A thorough and accurate HIPAA audit consists of many individual components and activities. When these individual pieces aren't designed to work together, efficiencies are lost, deadlines are missed, and vulnerabilities are overlooked. Our risk analysis process, Gap analysis, penetration tests, and other tools are designed to work together to provide a fluid and accurate solution to HIPAA compliance and Meaningful Use requirements.
Meaningful use attestation
Conducting a HIPAA security risk analysis not only gets you a step closer to HIPAA compliance, but also completes a Meaningful Use objective. Our compliance assessors can also assist in completing attestation of Meaningful Use objectives to ensure deadlines are met and incentive payments are received.
Our HIPAA risk assessment improves security and reduces costs
By analyzing your unique workflows and data paths, Unatek assessors help to establish more efficient arrangements for your data environment to improve PHI security and remove costly, unnecessary steps from the process.
No surprise pricing
Unatek HIPAA Assessment pricing is simple—we determine the scope of the work and provide you with a custom price quote for the audit. There are no hidden charges, no add-on fees, and no onsite hourly charges. Unatek gives you one price that won't change.
Feel free to contact us to schedule a no obligation consultation on HIPPA.
