HIPAA: HIPAA Enforcement Reached New Heights in 2018

Why This Topic Matters

Organizations that handle protected health information need to understand enforcement trends so they can evaluate their own privacy and security programs, prioritize risk management, and recognize the operational impact of breach investigations and settlements.

Article Sections

1. Background

   Summarizes the year’s enforcement activity and places it in the context of prior OCR settlement trends. It also introduces the scale of the penalties and the organizations involved.

2. What Sparked the Enforcement Upswing?

   Discusses factors that may have contributed to increased enforcement activity, including unresolved breach cases and attention to HIPAA privacy and security basics. It also highlights recurring compliance weaknesses seen in settlements.

3. Speed of Health IT Threats Impedes HIPAA Success

   Explains how evolving health information technology and expanding data environments increase security challenges for healthcare organizations. It emphasizes the growing importance of keeping compliance efforts aligned with changing systems and threats.