Blog Post

For 2019 HIPAA is the Highest Compliance Officer Priority

Richard P. Kusserow | May 2019

75% of Compliance Officers are responsible for HIPAA Privacy

The Ninth Annual Healthcare Compliance Benchmark Survey (Survey) was conducted by SAI Global and Strategic Management Services. Dealing with data breaches was the highest-ranked priority among the survey respondents, with two-thirds of respondents citing HIPAA Security/Cyber-security and over half citing HIPAA Privacy as their number one concern. This represented the biggest change from 2018. Coupled with this finding was that nearly 75 percent of respondents reported that the compliance office has assumed responsibility for HIPAA Privacy and nearly one-third responsibility for HIPAA Security. The Survey contained some information about the number of healthcare entities that experienced Privacy/Security incidents. However, the Survey did not focus on privacy laws and regulations emerging on the state level, nor did it provide much understanding on how organizations and compliance offices were responding to the challenges. As such, a separate 2019 HIPAA Compliance Survey has been designed to gather that information along with a variety of other issues. It is designed to provide a general understanding of the levels and nature of current commitment to this area. Those who wish to participate in the 2019 HIPAA Compliance Survey can do so by clicking here.

About the Author

Richard P. Kusserow established Strategic Management Services, LLC, after retiring from being the DHHS Inspector General, and has assisted over 2,000 health care organizations and entities in developing, implementing and assessing compliance programs.

Subscribe to blog