Office of Civil Rights to enforce HIPAA regulations

In a move made to put a stop to duplication of rules enforcement, the Office of Civil Rights will take over regulation enforcement of the security rule for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, better known as HIPAA, according to Healthcare IT News. The security rule goes over technical and physical procedures that help to maintain the privacy of electronic health information.

Since 2003, the OCR has been in charge of enforcing only HIPAA's privacy rule, which protects personal health information in the possession of "covered entities; the rule specifies the rights of patients in regards to that information.

"Security and privacy of health information are increasingly intersecting as the department works with the health industry to adopt electronic health records and participate in an even greater level of electronic exchange of health information," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. "Privacy and security are naturally intertwined, because they both address protected health information." 

To learn more:
- here's the Healthcare IT News article