Does HIPAA have teeth?

Washington Post article, "Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines," discusses current HIPAA privacy enforcement statistics from DHHS Office ofCivil Rights. Some statistics from the article:

• 19,420 HIPAA privacy complaints filed
• 73 percent of cases closed by ruling there was no violation or allowing covered entity to implement voluntary compliance
• 309 cases referred to DOJ for possible criminal violations
• No civil fines imposed
• Two criminal cases

UPDATE: Additional blog-spective on the investigation, oversight and enforcement of HIPAA over at Insurer Blog - A Ticket for HIPAA

Tags: HIPAA, health care, health, privacy, security, law, legal