Is Your Risk Analysis Accurate and Thorough Enough for OCR?
Most healthcare organizations think they have what OCR expects.
Find out in 20 minutes whether yours does too.
Download the Risk Analysis Defensibility Matrix for Free
Score your risk analysis against the nine elements OCR expects and find out in 20 minutes whether you have passed an investigation.
Why This Matters
The risk analysis requirement has been part of HIPAA since 2005 — and it remains the most misunderstood obligation in the Security Rule. Not because organizations ignore it, but because they substitute other activities for it and assume those count.
Most organizations believe they've done a risk analysis. What they've actually done is run a vulnerability scan or complete a checklist. A penetration test evaluates technical exposure. A SOC 2 audit assesses controls. None of these are a risk analysis — and OCR knows the difference.
HHS has published official guidance defining nine specific elements every risk analysis must include: a documented, repeatable assessment of the likelihood and impact of threats to ePHI, tied directly to real-world controls, aligned with recognized standards, and defensible under scrutiny. Most organizations are missing several of them.
The Risk Analysis Defensibility Matrix gives you that framework.
The Problem with Waiting to Find Out
A risk analysis that is incomplete, undated, or scoped only to part of your environment is not a defensible risk analysis. It is a liability. If OCR opens an investigation and your documentation does not reflect a current, comprehensive assessment, the gaps in your analysis become the story — regardless of what your actual security posture looks like.
You cannot defend a risk analysis you cannot produce. You cannot produce one you never built correctly.
The proposed 2026 Security Rule changes are adding another layer of urgency. They would require organizations to document risk analysis outcomes and tie them directly to remediation activities — a standard most current risk analyses are not structured to meet.
What This Is
The Risk Analysis Defensibility Matrix is a free, self-scoring workbook that evaluates your current risk analysis against the nine elements OCR actually expects — based on HHS’s official guidance and 45 CFR § 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A).
For each element, you’ll answer one defensibility question and select your current state: Not Started, In Progress, Documented, or Defensible. The workbook scores each element automatically and tells you exactly where your risk analysis stands — and what it would take to defend it if OCR came calling.
Ready to Find Out If Your Organization Would Survive an OCR Investigation?
Free 2026 HIPAA Readiness Review
Contact
(332) 217-0601
hello@continuous.net
Schedule a complimentary 2026 HIPAA Readiness Review with our team. This focused review helps healthcare leaders:
Understand how OCR's escalating enforcement priorities apply to their organization
Identify gaps against the requirements OCR is most actively citing
Gain clarity on risk exposure, documentation, and next steps
We bring
structure, coordination, and ongoing oversight so your environment stays
aligned and your team always knows what to focus on next.
