A new security risk assessment (SRA) tool to help guide healthcare providers in small to medium-sized offices conduct risk assessments of their organizations is now available from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
The SRA tool is the result of a collaborative effort by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The tool is designed to help practices conduct and document a risk assessment in a thorough, organized fashion at their own pace by allowing them to assess the information security risks in their organizations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. The application, available for downloading, also produces a report that can be provided to auditors.
HIPAA requires organizations that handle protected health information to regularly review the administrative, physical and technical safeguards they have in place to protect the security of the information. By conducting these risk assessments, healthcare providers can uncover potential weaknesses in their security policies, processes and systems. Risk assessments also help providers address vulnerabilities, potentially preventing health data breaches or other adverse security events. A vigorous risk assessment process supports improved security of patient health data, say HHS officials.
“Protecting patients’ protected health information is important to all health care providers and the new tool we are releasing today will help them assess the security of their organizations,” Karen DeSalvo, M.D., national coordinator for health IT, said in a statement. “The SRA tool and its additional resources have been designed to help health care providers conduct a risk assessment to support better security for patient health data.”
“We are pleased to have collaborated with the ONC on this project,” added Susan McAndrew, deputy director of OCR’s Division of Health Information Privacy. “We believe this tool will greatly assist providers in performing a risk assessment to meet their obligations under the HIPAA Security Rule.”
