According to Bricker & Eckler, LLP

…

“On October 30, 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an interim final rule pertaining to the enforcement provisions of the HI-TECH Act. The final rule serves to conform HIPAA’s enforcement regulations to the revisions to the HIPAA statutes made by the HI-TECH Act.”

…

This is the government’s way of saying “we’re made a rule, and we are now going to enforce it”. The enforcement ruling is an indicative of the federal government’s interest in protecting the privacy and identity of patients. As patient records get converted from paper to electronic security has become a very important part of the healthcare IT ecosystem.

..

Bricker and Echler, LLC go on further to say “The HI-TECH Act significantly increased the penalty amounts for HIPAA violations, as reflected in the final rule. Covered entities should understand the financial risks associated with HIPAA non-compliance and the changes to the available affirmative defenses. It is critical to have an effective HIPAA compliance program to avoid HIPAA violations and to identify and correct HIPAA violations in a timely manner, which can shield the organization from substantial financial penalties”

..

Related articles by Zemanta

• Son of HIPAA Breach Notification Rules (healthblawg.typepad.com)
• Encrypt EHR – Else HIPAA Violations Need Be Reported To Government & Media (docinthemachine.com)
• HHS Releases 2008 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Report (medicareupdate.typepad.com)
• Stimulus Fuels Gold Rush For Electronic Health Systems (huffingtonpost.com)
• HIPAA Enforcement Meets HITECH: HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Enforcement Rule (healthcarebloglaw.blogspot.com)
• ARRA – HITECH: Health Care Information Breach Notification Regulations Now In Effect (healthcarebloglaw.blogspot.com)