August 21, 2017 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently launched a revised web tool that puts important information on cybersecurity breaches into the hands of individuals. The tool is designed to empower them to better identify recent breaches of health information and to learn how all breaches of health information are investigated and successfully resolved.
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.
Location of the breached information (e.g., laptop, paper records, desktop computer).
HIPAA also requires the covered entity to promptly notify affected individuals of a breach, and, in some cases, notify the media.
HHS plans on expanding and improving the site over time to add functionality and features based on feedback. The HBRT provides transparency to the public and organizations covered by HIPAA and helps highlight the importance of safeguards to protect the privacy and security of sensitive health care information.
The HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool can be accessed here.