Annual security assessments become California law

California, often the forerunner in compliance standards, may be leading the pack when it comes to security assessments.

In October 2009, the state revised California Health and Safety Code 1257.7, requiring hospitals to conduct security risk assessments annually and making failure to do so a crime. It took effect in January and requires that the first annual assessments begin no later than ­July 1, 2010, making some California hospitals scramble to perform a security assessment. CEOs or managers responsible for failure to comply could receive a criminal complaint. The law is a revision of AB 508, which passed in 1995.