HealthcareInfoSecurity interviews the new director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In addition to highlighting his belief that "enforcement promotes compliance," Leon Rodriguez also points out that education will help reinforce it. "It's going to be important for us to make sure that we do everything we can to assist those covered entities that want to understand what the rules are," Rodriguez says, "So we're going to be focused on outreach and education no less than on enforcement." Additionally, the OCR will continue ramped-up HIPAA enforcement and plans to conduct 150 audits by the end of 2012 through its new HIPAA compliance audit program. Editor's Note: For more on the HIPAA audit program, the archived IAPP Web conference, The Upcoming OCR HIPAA Audit Program: What To Expect and How To Prepare, is available for purchase on our website.
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