Survey Suggests HIPAA Business Associates are Unprepared for HITECH Act
An interesting, but startling, new survey suggests that HIPAA Business Associates are not prepared for the new requirements being ushered in by the HITECH Act. The survey, released by HIMSS Analytics, a subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, revealed that more than 30 percent of the Business Associates respondents reported that they were not aware of their need to comply with certain privacy and security provisions of HIPAA.
The survey also revealed that doctors, hospitals and other covered entities are expecting to take action to ensure that their Business Associates are complying with HIPAA. Notably, 85 percent of the healthcare providers surveyed reported that they will take steps to ensure that data held by business associates will not be breached and a full 47 percent of these providers reported that they would actually terminate contracts with Business Associates for HIPAA-related violations. While these statements bode well for the privacy and security of protected health information, it is also further evidence of the need for Business Associates to get to work on their compliance plans. The survey makes it clear that healthcare providers are paying attention to the HITECH Act and will expect their business associates to be in compliance.
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Jacqueline Klosek, Senior Counsel in the Business Law Department of Goodwin Procter LLP, is a frequent author and commentator on data privacy and security. You can email her at jacquelineklosek@gmail.com -
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