  Healthcare Information Technology (IT) has made great advances over the past
few years and while these advances have enable healthcare professionals to
provide higher quality healthcare to a larger number of individuals it also
provides the criminal element more opportunities to access sensitive
information, such as patient protected health information (PHI) and Personal
identification Information (PII). Having an Information Assurance (IA)
programallows for the protection of information and information systems and
ensures the organization is in compliance with all requires regulations, laws
and directive is essential. While most organizations have such a policy in
place, often it is inadequate to ensure the proper protection to prevent
security breaches. The increase of data breaches in the last few years
demonstrates the importance of an effective IA program. To ensure an effective
IA policy, the policy must manage the operational risk, including identifying
risks, assessment and mitigation of identified risks and ongoing monitoring to
ensure compliance
