HIPAA Update – August 2017

The Federal Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the HIPAA enforcement agency, has announced the launch of a revised web tool for use by the public to obtain information about breaches of unsecured protected health information. According to the OCR’s announcement: “The HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool (HBRT) features improved navigation for both those looking for information on breaches and ease-of-use for organizations reporting incidents. The tool also helps educate industry on the types of breaches that are occurring, industry-wide or within particular sectors, and how breaches are commonly resolved following investigations launched by OCR, which can help industry improve the security posture of their organizations.” The OCR originally released the HBRT in 2009, and the agency has announced that it will continue to improve the tool over time to add functionality and features based on feedback it receives.

The revised HBRT includes the following new features:

• Enhanced functionality that highlights breaches currently under investigation and reported within the last 24 months
• New archive that includes all older breaches and information about how breaches were resolved
• Improved navigation to additional breach information
• Tips for consumers

The HBRT may be found at: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/breach/breach_report.jsf.