Catherine Boerner (cboerner@boernerconsultingllc.com) is President of Boerner Consulting LLC in New Berlin, WI.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) conducted Phase 2 desk audits of 166 covered entities and 41 business associates for compliance with selected provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The 2016-2017 HIPAA Audits Industry Report,[1] released in December 2020, compiles the results from these audits, and it is a good exercise for privacy and security officers to review the report.
The report states that the vast majority of audited covered entities were healthcare providers (150 of the 166 total). A wide range of healthcare providers were represented, including practitioners, pharmacies, hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities, and elder care facilities.