MARBLEHEAD, MA May 28, 2003 -- HCPro, Inc. (www.hcpro.com), the leader in providing training solutions to healthcare agencies, recently conducted a survey on HIPAA compliance. Although the privacy rule's compliance date passed on April 14th, 48% of responding organizations have yet to address all of the rule's requirements, according to the recent "HIPAA Weekly Advisor Privacy Compliance Reader Survey." Time and costs are the major obstacles, and punitive penalties from the Office for Civil Rights can be levied against non-compliant organizations.

64% of respondents listed lack of time as the biggest compliance obstacle, and 60% said they are still working on business associate agreements (facilities have an additional year to develop HIPAA-compliant contracts). 45% acknowledged that they are still developing policies and procedures.

The HCPro, Inc. survey was sent electronically on April 18 to subscribers of "HIPAA Weekly Advisor." An overwhelming 546 people responded. Of that, 42% were privacy officials, 22% were compliance officers, 21% were health information management professionals, and 11% were administrators. Others included office managers, risk managers, and information technology professionals. Almost half of respondents worked at either hospitals (32%) or in hospital systems (16%). Other settings included physician practices, long-term care facilities, and home health agencies.

Other results of the survey include the following:

·    45% of respondents said they have addressed all requirements and are in compliance
·    29% said they still haven't trained all employees
·    14% said lack of administrative buy-in and support is the biggest compliance obstacle
·    47% said they were concerned with business associate agreements
·    46% of respondents said they were concerned about the privacy rule's minimum necessary requirement
·    46% said they were concerned about preemption of state laws
·    44% said they were concerned about policy and procedure development
·    41% said they were concerned about training
·    Only 10% said they were concerned about fundraising

"Time-efficient and cost-effective HIPAA compliance can be achieved through multiplatform training solutions from HCPro, Inc. We have already trained over one million healthcare workers in HIPAA compliance. With the right training materials, compliance costs will be much lower than the fines imposed, and the time involved is reduced with the ease of use," stated Paul Nash, HCPro, Inc.'s HIPAA expert.

About HCPro
HCPro, located at 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA, is a leading publisher and educator on regulatory and compliance issues faced by hospitals, home health organizations, nursing homes, physicians' offices, and other healthcare facilities. Established in 1986, HCPro is the parent company The Greeley Company.

HCPro publishes 34 monthly newsletters, 30 weekly e-zines, and more than 150 books about healthcare compliance and regulatory issues for the healthcare industry. The Greeley Company is a healthcare consulting and educational services firm. HCPro also provides content-rich vertical niche Web sites along with related free e-mail newsletters to create specialized communities for healthcare professionals.




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