Please support Telehealth.org’s ability to deliver helpful news, opinions, and analyses by turning off your ad blocker. The HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool is commonly called the “Wall of Shame” because it lists all organizations that have had health care data breaches affecting more than 500 individuals that have occurred since enforcement began. The Wall of Shame is a searchable, permanent database of HIPAA violations maintained by OCR.
The Breach Reporting Tool allows you to search the full archive of breaches, and gives access to an “Under Investigation” tab. The tool has been redesigned to make it easier than ever before to look through OCR’s investigation history. This makes the consequences of a data breach or HIPAA violation a permanent reputational issue for your organization–especially now that prospective patients are doing more and more research into behavioral health specialists they’re looking to work with.
Protecting your practice with a HIPAA compliance program is an essential way to keep your name off the Wall of Shame. Below, we take a look at exactly what the regulation requires so you know what to look for in a HIPAA compliance program for your practice.
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule
HIPAA breach reporting and breach notification are essential parts of any organization’s HIPAA compliance. HIPAA breach reporting is regulated by the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, which was first enacted in 2009 along with the HITECH Act.
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule categorizes data breaches into two categories with specific requirements for follow-through on each. The two kinds of breaches that the Breach Notification Rule identifies are:
- Minor Breach: any breach of protected health information that affects fewer than 500 individuals. Individuals must be notified of the breach within 60 days of discovery of the breach. ALL minor breaches that have occurred over the course of the year must be reported to OCR NO LATER than 60 days after the end of the calendar year. This date usually falls on March 1st or February 29th.
- Meaningful Breach: any breach of protected health information that affects more than 500 individuals. Individuals must be notified within 30 days of the discovery of the breach, and local media must also be notified of the breach. Meaningful breaches must be reported to OCR immediately, within 60 days of the discovery of the breach itself.
The best way to mitigate your risk of being targeted by these breaches is to adopt a total HIPAA compliance program in your organization that addresses the full extent of the law. Don’t get caught unprepared!
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