HIPAA violations just got more costly

Mar 4, 2016 | Healthcare, Security-GRC | 0 comments

Meet the Yelp of healthcare providers. New app “HIPAA Helper” makes HIPAA violations easier for customers to see.

A new consumer tool will make HIPAA violations more visible, adding another element to the risk assessment healthcare companies need to make when weighing the importance of HIPAA compliance.

Utilizing data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, the California Department of Public Health, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, watchdog group ProPublica gives consumers a deeper look into your healthcare provider with their new search engine “HIPAA Helper.”

Data breaches, violations and patient privacy complaints can now all be searched for by healthcare provider, hospital, clinic, or keyword. A typical search for a provider generates a list of violations and bestows a comprehensive look into each one.

HIPAA Helper is part of ProPublica’s Policing Patient Privacy series. It also includes “Dollars for Docs” and “Surgeon Scorecard” which give understanding as to how industry dollars reach doctors, and death and complication rates for surgical procedures.

In an effort to give visibility into the healthcare industry, ProPublica has recently teamed up with Yelp. With data from 4,600 hospitals, 15,000 nursing homes and 6,300 dialysis clinics at your fingertips, patients can view average emergency room wait times, nursing home fines, patient satisfaction surveys and even hospital room noise. Having access to this kind of information is important as it aids people who are looking for the right place to take their loved ones.

We have seen some folks in the healthcare industry gamble on remaining non-compliant with HIPAA, but the risk equation may be changing. Beyond this consumer tool, the Office of Civil Rights has announced a 10% increase in the budget, specifically to fund more HIPAA audits.

If you need help taking the first steps to HIPAA compliance, check out our QuickStart for Healthcare, which provides the fundamental building blocks. Or if you need a more advanced audit, we can help with our virtual CISO services.

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“Data breaches, violations and patient privacy complaints can now all be searched for by healthcare provider, hospital, clinic, or keyword.”

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