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Newsroom
URAC BOARD APPROVES HIPAA SECURITY ACCREDITATION
STANDARDS
URAC is HIPAA Accreditation Leader with 10 Companies
In-Process for Security Washington, D.C. - URAC announced today that
its Board of Directors has approved the nation's first and only independent
HIPAA Security Accreditation program for Covered Entities and Business
Associates, and that 10 companies operating in more than 20 different sites
across the nation are currently in the process of seeking accreditation.
With a strong emphasis on the fundamentals of ongoing risk
management, URAC's HIPAA Security Accreditation program enables health care
organizations to validate their security compliance program and demonstrate to
their customers and business partners that they have taken the necessary steps
to safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI) in accordance with the HIPAA
Security Rule.
"The commitment to security shown by this early group of
applicants sets an excellent example for Covered Entities and Business
Associates alike," said Garry Carneal, URAC president and CEO. "We
appreciate the participation of our beta applicants, who have provided us with
the feedback and experience necessary to bring the HIPAA Security Accreditation
program to fruition."
Members of the "beta" group for HIPAA Security
Accreditation include:
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American Specialty Health, Inc., and its affiliates including:
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American Specialty Health Plans of California
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American Specialty Health Networks
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American Specialty Health Insurance
Company
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Healthyroads
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Health Ink & Vitality Communications
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Imogen Systems
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MedRisk, Inc.
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National Imaging Associates, Inc.
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Wausau Benefits
"As the only health care accreditation body with HIPAA
Privacy and Security programs for Covered Entities and Business Associates,
URAC has clearly established itself as the industry leader in HIPAA
accreditation," said Lisa Gallagher, URAC's senior vice president of
Information and Technology Accreditation. "URAC is committed to supporting
organizations in their HIPAA Security compliance, and we will continue to
deliver accreditation and certification programs supporting information
technology use in the health care industry."
URAC's Information & Technology Accreditation Department
was launched in January 2003 with a mandate to create innovative new programs
that meet the growing need of health care organizations to address their
changing use of information technology. To support this goal, URAC has added to
its in-house staff of health care, security and technology experts and engaged
the industry in a wide variety of ways, including the joint URAC/NIST Security
Workgroup, the upcoming Search Engine Summit, the creation of two new
accreditation programs and plans for additional initiatives in 2003 and 2004.
With Board approval of the HIPAA Security Standards, the department now holds
stewardship of three fully operational information and technology accreditation
programs: Health Web Site, HIPAA Privacy and HIPAA Security.
URAC HIPAA Security Accreditation is awarded for a two year
period, at the end of which an accredited organization must submit a
reaccreditation application for URAC's review before accreditation is granted
for additional two-year periods. For more information contact Eamon Bobowski of
URAC's Information and Technology Accreditation Department at (202) 962-8835 or
by sending e-mail to ita@urac.org.
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URAC is a leader in the accreditation of health and managed
care organizations. Founded in 1990, URAC currently offers more than 16
accreditation programs that span a broad spectrum of health care services. URAC
has issued over 2,300 accreditation certificates to more than 500 health care
programs. URAC-accredited organizations do business in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Canada and provide services to more than
120 million people.
For more information about URAC, call (202) 216-9010 or visit
http://www.urac.org.
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