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On January 5, 2021, the president signed into law H.R. 7898, an Act that amends the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider specific recognized security practices of covered entities and business associates when making certain determinations regarding fines, penalties, and other remedies related to HIPAA violations, as well as determinations relating to the length and extent of HITECH audits.
In particular, the law requires the Secretary to consider certain security practices as a mitigating factor when considering fines under Section 1176 (general penalties for HIPAA violations) or Section 1177 (penalties for wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information), the length and extent of a HITECH audit under Section 13411, or other remedies relating to violations of the HIPAA Security rule.