Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

HHS launches new HIPAA privacy rule Web site.

As we near the fourth anniversary of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule enforcement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new "enhanced" Web site designed to help consumers and health care organizations get information about what HHS is doing to enforce the Privacy Rule and pursue violators. 

The new site at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/enforcement is part of the HHS Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) continuing effort to help organizations get and stay compliant. It targets patients, health care providers, health plans and others in the health care industry. 

Some of the information you can find there includes:

• The latest on HHS efforts to enforce the Privacy Rule--and the results;
• Stats that show what kinds of complaints the OCR receives most frequently and the types of entities that are most often the target of consumer complaints;
• Details about consumer's rights in accessing or protecting their private health information;
• Helpful hints for filing a complaint; and
• Extensive information designed to help covered entities become and stay compliant.