FTLF Associate Laura Hoffman recently spoke at the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association’s 27^th Annual Conference on privacy and security matters related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA has become an especially pertinent topic given the recent surge in HIPAA enforcement efforts following the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) issuance of the Final “Omnibus” HIPAA Rule and the HHS’ Office of Civil Rights’ (OCR) announcement in February 2014 that planning for the second round of the HIPAA Audit Program is underway.

Laura’s session provided attendees with a general overview of the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, with a special focus on the importance of risk assessments for HIPAA Security Rule and Meaningful Use purposes. She reviewed recent enforcement actions with the attendees to discuss and understand why each situation resulted in fines and answered questions about what OCR may look for in its upcoming HIPAA security audits.

Attendees walked away with sound risk mitigation techniques, ideas for new and revised HIPAA policies and procedures, and tips for best practices to implement at their health centers to improve their HIPAA compliance efforts.