HIPAA Fines & HIPAA Audits On The Rise

If you were watching, 2016 was a banner year for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enforcement. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) set a department record last year with a total of 12 health care organizations fined and violation payments amounting to over $22.8 million. Seven of those settlements were over $1.5 million – with the $5.5 million settlement with Advocate Health Care Network marked as the largest settlement ever agreed upon with a single covered entity (see OCR HIPAA Enforcement: Summary of 2016 HIPAA Settlements).

And, if . . .