HHS reports: Compliance reviews, health data breaches up

Health data

The number of compliance reviews by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of health organizations increased between 2017 and 2021, according to the agency’s latest reports to Congress.

Reviews initiated by the HHS Office of Civil Rights grew 44 percent over the four-year period, the OCR said in its report covering privacy, security, and breach notification compliance under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The report, published Friday, focused on the enforcement activities of the OCR, including the number of complaints it received, how they were resolved, and the number of compliance reviews and audits spawned by those complaints.

From 2017-21, the number of complaints received by the OCR increased 39 percent, according to the report. In 2021, the OCR received 34,077 new complaints alleging violations of HIPAA rules, an increase of 25 percent over 2020.

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