On February 27, 2013, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced the availability of several Health Information Privacy Specialist positions. This expansion of OCR’s health information privacy enforcement team signals that OCR’s increased enforcement activity during 2012 will continue in 2013. In 2012, OCR announced several enforcement actions resulting from a breach self-report required by HITECH’s Breach Notification Rule, including the $1.7 million settlement in June with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary’s $1.5 million settlement in September. OCR’s 2012 enforcement actions, and OCR leadership comments subsequent to the release of the HITECH Final Rule, suggest that the agency’s focus will be on Security Rule compliance (specifically with regard to the whether a regulated entity has conducted a Security Rule Risk Assessment), the lack of overall HIPAA compliance that may lead to a breach (as opposed to the breach itself), and issues involving marketing or the sale of Protected Health Information. Covered entities and business associates should expect OCR enforcement, including audits, to continue to increase over the next year.
More information on these positions is available at usajobs.gov.
Additional information about OCR’s enforcement activities can be found at hhs.gov.
