Summary of article from The HIPAA Journal, by Steve Adler:
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 mandates periodic audits of HIPAA-regulated entities by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to assess HIPAA compliance, with a focus on the HIPAA Security Rule. OCR has confirmed that audits will be conducted in 2024. The increasing rate and scale of data breaches suggest inadequate compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule among healthcare organizations. OCR aims to improve future audit programs and cybersecurity across the healthcare sector, with a particular focus on risk analysis and management provisions of the HIPAA Security Rule. OCR is working on an update to the HIPAA Security Rule, expected to be finalized by the end of the year, to reflect changes in technology and working practices, including the adoption of cloud technology, encryption, and multifactor authentication.