The challenge of HIPAA compliance is about to go viral. Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law in February, many more companies—including law firms, accounting firms, and other businesses that might assume to be arm’s length from the healthcare industry—now face stronger federal regulations around the security of personal health information.
At the same time, the law also puts more teeth into HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. That means compliance officers everywhere would do well to review the changes, see if their companies somehow fall under the reach of the new rules, and prepare to reassess their privacy and security compliance programs, observers say.
