Please pardon me, but I feel a little like a modern-day Paul Revere alerting you to the start of the second wave of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) compliance audits.

Last week, Jocelyn Samuels, director of the Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR), announced the launch of the audits, a follow up from the pilot audit program dating back to 2012. The audit contractors have been hired, a new data portal at the OCR has been rolled out, and initial surveys are going out to possible auditees. It seems now it’s official; it’s finally happening.

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