Government bodies such as OCR, HHS, and CMS are randomly but accurately conducting audits to review HIPAA compliance. We suggest to be prepared and let ZEE Medical Billing complete a risk analysis for you earlier, in order to avoid the chances of being penalized. Although the chances of being audited are relatively low, safety and risk violations can lead to the risk of legal action or fines.
The audits focus on verifying noncompliance with HIPAA privacy, security, and OMNIBUS rules. Breach penalties depend on the level of negligence. It ranges from $100 – $50,000 per violation or with a maximum penalty of $1.5million per year. Criminal charges leading to jail time are also possible. The fines and charges have two major categories: