News

Hartford, Conn., February 15, 2017 – Day Pitney LLP is pleased to announce the availability of its updated HIPAA Self-Assessment Tool 2.0 ("Tool"), designed to provide an easy and cost-effective way for organizations to perform a self-assessment of HIPAA compliance based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") expanded audit protocol.

Day Pitney launched the original version of the Tool in December 2015. To add to the value this innovative compliance tool provides, the firm's Healthcare practice group recently revised the Tool's content to reflect the additional audit areas added by OCR in 2016. Those additional areas include business associate requirements and use and disclosure of genetic information.

Day Pitney Healthcare attorney Susan Huntington noted, "The tool is a convenient way for an organization to assess its HIPAA compliance at a very affordable price comparable to the cost of a fully loaded Apple laptop computer and this includes two hours of legal consultation."

In view of the current state and federal HIPAA enforcement environment, using the Tool can be a very sound investment. Recent HIPAA settlements have highlighted the requirement that all covered entities must perform a risk assessment. The Tool can help clients assess whether they are in compliance with HIPAA's security, privacy and breach notification requirements.

"Companies need to conduct self-audits in order to be in compliance with the HIPAA rules," said James Bowers, Day Pitney Director of Compliance Risk Services and former chief compliance officer at Aetna Inc. "The most common deficiency found by the OCR is the failure to conduct a security risk assessment to identify and mitigate risks to Protected Health Information that may be exposed on servers and unencrypted laptops, as well as ancillary risks resulting from unchanged default passwords, outdated security software and inadequate training."

Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, the Tool can be completed by the compliance officer, privacy officer, security officer, health information manager, medical records manager or legal counsel. A more detailed description of the Tool can be found on Day Pitney's HIPAA Compliance service page.

"Once a client inputs its information, the Tool provides an automated assessment summary," Day Pitney Healthcare attorney Eric Fader said. "If there are areas of noncompliance, our team is ready to work with the client to address and correct such areas."

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