HIPAA compliance = privacy protected?

A year ago, AHRQ found rampant confusion and mistakes among covered entities trying to comply with HIPAA.  This month, HIMMS Analytics released a survey of nearly 300 health care IT and data security professionals indicating that a focus on HIPAA compliance leaves a blind spot with respect to other patient data issues, including:

• Underreporting of data breaches
• Inconsistent understanding of the costs of a data breach
• Widespread failure to implement new policies and procedures following a data breach

The study was commissioned by Kroll Fraud Solutions and may be downloaded here (free registration required).  The executive summary/press release is here (no registration required).  Tip of the hat to Brian Klepper writing at The Health Care Blog.  He is to host a webinar on the subject within the week and writes that he plans to post a link.

— David Harlow