This past Friday, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights and HHS Office of the General Counsel, developed a HIPAA “Security Risk Assessment Tool.”  The Security Risk Assessment Tool is a downloadable program that was developed to assist providers in performing HIPAA security risk assessments and determining HIPAA vulnerabilities.  The program offers an easy tool for providers to (1) determine what types of safeguards are needed for their practice, (2) document whether or not they meet each standard, and (3) document why any of the safeguards are not applicable to their practice.  The program is available for download on the HealthIT website at the following address:  http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/security-risk-assessment.  There is also a helpful video on how to use the program available here:  http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/security-risk-assessment-videos (3rd video on the web page).

For more information on this new tool or HIPAA security, contact Matthew Redding