An article published yesterday on the Computerworld website discusses the first known HIPAA security audit.
In March, Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital became the first institution in the country to be audited for compliance with the security rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
The audit was conducted by the office of the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) and is being seen by some in the health care industry as a precursor of similar audits to come at other institutions.
Neither Piedmont nor HHS officials have publicly confirmed the audit or spoken about it. That silence has sparked considerable curiosity about why Piedmont was targeted as well as the scope of the audit and the kind of information HHS was seeking.
A document obtained by Computerworld from a reliable source indicates that Piedmont was presented with a list of 42 items that HHS officials wanted information on within 10 days.
For a full list of the 42 items click through to the Computerworld article here.