Ben Parker
HIPAA risk assessments help in identifying and implementing the most effective and appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to secure electronically protected health information.
A risk analysis is a requirement in federal law. Conducting a risk analysis is the first step in identifying and implementing safeguards that comply with and carry out the standards and implementation specifications of HIPAA. Your healthcare organization should determine the most appropriate way to achieve HIPAA compliance, taking into account the characteristics of the organization and its environment.
Risk analysis requirements under HIPAA require healthcare organizations to implement policies and procedures to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security violations. Your agency must conduct an accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronically protected health information.
In addition to an express requirement to conduct a risk analysis, the HIPAA law indicates risk analysis is a necessary
Healthcare organizations must identify and document reasonably anticipated threats unique to the circumstances of their environment. Organizations must also identify and document vulnerabilities that, if triggered or exploited by a threat, would create a risk of inappropriate access to or disclosure of this protected health information.
In conclusion, risk assessment is the first step in an organization’s HIPAA compliance efforts. It is an ongoing process that should provide the healthcare organization with a detailed understanding of the risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of this protected health information.
Areas Covered
- Risk assessment under the HIPAA laws
- Vulnerability, threat, and risk analysis
- Scope of risk assessment
- Identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities
- Assessing security measures in place
- Determining threat occurrence, likelihood, and impact
- Finalize documentation of the risk assessment
- Regular review and updates to risk assessment for new employees, new laws, and new technology
- The surprising danger of not doing a HIPAA risk assessment
Background
The background for this topic is an introduction to HIPAA compliance which requires a HIPAA risk assessment. HIPAA compliance officers must conduct risk assessments.
Why Should You Attend
HIPAA risk assessments are required by the HIPAA laws themselves. But what do you do when you find breaches and security lapses as a result?
Erase the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about tackling the requirements of HIPAA risk assessments and learn how to do them.
Discover what you need to know about how to conduct a HIPAA risk assessment – and deal with its results effectively.
