HHS' Office for Civil Rights is requesting a $5.6 million increase for its fiscal year 2012 budget so it can follow HIPAA enforcement and compliance requirements, HealthLeaders Media reports (Nicastro, HealthLeaders Media, 3/17).
If approved, the office's budget would increase from $41,099,000 in FY 2011 to $46,717,000 in FY 2012 (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 3/17).
Funding Details
OCR, which enforces HIPAA privacy and security rules, would use about $2.2 million to hire "regional privacy officers" who would offer HIPAA guidance and education to business associates, covered entities and individuals.
About $1.3 million of the funding would help OCR investigate data breach reports. In FY 2010, the office received approximately 9,400 complaints associated with HIPAA privacy and security rules (HealthLeaders Media, 3/17).
According to OCR, the office needs more resources to be able to investigate data breaches that affect 500 or fewer individuals (Modern Healthcare, 3/17).