The ADA Center for Professional Success has a tip sheet to help dental practices who may face an audit from the federal government to determine whether they are complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules. 

The Center for Professional Success offers nine tips to help dental practices be prepared for the possibility of an audit. The tips, which are available at Success.ADA.org/AuditChecklist include:

• Watch for an email from the Office for Civil Rights.
• Practice filling out the Office for Civil Rights' pre-audit screening questionnaire.
• Review your HIPAA compliance documents and update as appropriate.
• List your business associates and make sure you have a compliant agreement with each.
• Review the government's HIPAA audit protocol.
• Make sure your HIPAA security risk analysis is a HIPAA security risk analysis.
• Read about the audit program on the Office for Civil Rights website.
• Do a mock audit.
• Work hard, but don't panic.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has sent emails to selected covered entities that will be included in phase two of its HIPAA audit program. The emails are from OSOCRAudit@hhs.gov and the office suggests monitoring spam folders for messages from this address.