The Department of Health and Human Services is lowering its top fines for less egregious HIPAA violations. Meanwhile, it’s pledging to make a “big push” to enforce patients’ right to access their health records. HHS will keep its revised interpretation of the HITECH Act penalty caps in mind “for all enforcement operations,” says Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, which enforces HIPAA.
The volume of cyberattacks on health care facilities should be a resounding wake-up call for all physicians who own their practices.
