Phase 2 of HIPAA audits: How can anesthesia practices prepare?

According to an Anesthesia Business Consultants blog post, HHS' Office for Civil Rights plans to audit 350 covered entities in phase 2 of the HIPAA audits and while the chances of an anesthesia group being selected for a phase 2 audit is minimal, practices should take the opportunity to check that they are HIPAA-compliant and that their documentation is complete.

The blog post details helpful checklist from McDermott Will & Emery's article "OCR to Begin Phase 2 of HIPAA Audit Program," which includes steps that practices should take to update its HIPAA policies, procedures and documentation, such as:

•    Confirming that all action items identified in the risk assessment have been completed or are on a reasonable timeline to completion;
•    Ensuring that the organization has a complete inventory of business associates for purposes of the phase 2 audit data requests.

The greatest risk to most covered entities, including anesthesia practices, is a breach of protected health information. While breaches will continue to happen, anesthesia practices should try and minimize risk, irrespective of whether they are audited in phase 2, according to the blog post.

More articles on anesthesia:

White River Medical Center adds Dr. Robert Baker to pain management clinic
Temple University School of Medicine appoints Dr. Marshall Ki Lee assistant professor of anesthesiology
Syracuse VA Medical Center names Dr. Virginia Nelson anesthesia chief

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