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Business Associate and Covered Entity HIPAA Compliance -- Auditing Questions and NIST 800-53 Security Controls.

This article discusses techniques for implementing the updated requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule, with particular focus on strategies for assessing the effectiveness of implemented security controls to support compliance and audit, as well as a covered entity’s (or business associate) overarching risk management program in the context of HIPAA Compliance. Covered entities are becoming more pro-active in monitoring their business associate compliance with HIPAA privacy and security regulations and the recent changes largely the product of the HITECH Act. In the past I have used a series of questions to ascertain the compliance status of business associates to comply with HIPAA privacy and security rules. I find it useful to map security controls to NIST Special Publication 800-53. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has collaborated with the military and intelligence communities to produce the first set of security controls for all government information systems, including national security systems. The controls are included in the final version of Special Publication 800-53, Revision 3 “Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations,” released in August of 2009. (Available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-53-Rev3/sp800-53-rev3-final.pdf). [...]

Evaluating Secutiy Incidents — Security Incident DOs and DON’Ts

Security Incidents can be accidental incursions or deliberate attempts to break into systems and can be benign to malicious in purpose or consequence, each incident requires a careful response at a level commensurate with its potential impact to the security of individuals and your organization as a whole however few organizations have an appropriate security incident policy. The fundamental components of a security incident response plan include the following — [...]

Interim Final Rule on Breach Notification for HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates Released by HHS (Effective September 23, 2009) & FTC Releases Final Guidance on PHR Security Breach Notification Requirements

Regulations requiring health care providers, health plans, and other entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to notify individuals when personal health information is breached were issued August 19th, 2009, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These “breach notification” regulations implement provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, passed as part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [...]

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