Privacy, Commercial Law & Contracts, Health Law

Employers – Are You Updating Your HIPAA Documents?

by Jewelie Grape | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Employee... on 5/15/2013

The Department of Health and Human Services released final Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security regulations on January 25, 2013. ...more

HHS Expands HIPAA Privacy Compliance Requirements

by Robert Bohner | Sedgwick LLP on 5/10/2013

On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule, which implements the regulatory changes imposed on business associates found in the Health Information Technology for Economic...more

HIPAA Revises Business Associate Agreement Requirements

by Evelyn Haralampu | Burns & Levinson LLP on 5/7/2013

Protecting Health Information - The privacy of health information is protected by federal rules. These rules, which have been recently updated, affect the handling of “protected health information” (“PHI”) by business...more

Checklist for Timely Compliance with HIPAA Omnibus Rule

by Lori Oliphant | Winstead PC on 5/7/2013

The deadline for compliance with the new HIPAA Omnibus Rule is looming for group health plans. As explained in a prior blog, stiff penalties may be imposed on employers whose plans fail to comply. Accordingly, employers...more

HIPAA Task Force – May 2013

by Jennifer Spiegel Berman, Molly E. G. Ferraioli, Thora A. Johnson, Jessica Kuester, Peter Parvis | Venable LLP on 5/2/2013

In this issue: - What Your Business Needs To Do About Hipaa — Now - Action Items for Covered Entities and Business Associates (including Subcontractors) - Changes Impacting Business Associates (including...more

Revocation Of EHR Certification Rocks Industry

by Henry Fader | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 4/30/2013

The news from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) about the revocation of the electronic health record (EHR) certifications of two EHR products that had previously been certified will have tremendous...more

Washington Supreme Court Limits Public Access to Hospital Privileging, Peer Review Documents

by Angela Galloway, Eric Stahl | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 4/26/2013

Public hospital districts may not disclose certain records created during closed-door meetings about hospital privileging decisions, the Washington Supreme Court recently held in Cornu-Labat v. Hospital Dist. No. 2 Grant...more

Business Associates And HIPAA Compliance

by Patricia Calhoun | Carlton Fields on 4/25/2013

Pursuant to HIPAA, business associates of health care organizations have until September 23, 2013 to become HIPAA-compliant. This alert sets forth the factors often used to determine whether a company will be considered a...more

HIPAA Privacy And Security Compliance: More Important Than Ever

by William Dillon | Messer & Caparello, P.A. on 4/18/2013

On January 25, 2013 the Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule modifying the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Enforcement rules. The effective date of the final rule was March 26, 2013, however, covered...more

Cloud Storage Providers Storing Protected Health Information May Be Obligated to Comply with HIPAA Regulations

by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on 4/17/2013

A recently issued government rule may unknowingly create significant liability and legal risk for many technology enterprises. The expanded definition of "business associates" and related interpretations by the Department of...more

The HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule—Data Privacy and Security Implications for Business Associates and Covered Entities

by Matthew Fischer | Sedgwick LLP on 4/11/2013

On January 17, 2013, the Office for Civil Rights (‘‘OCR’’) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (‘‘HHS’’) published the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule (‘‘Final Rule’’) which OCR has trumpeted as carrying ‘‘the most...more

The HIPAA/HITECH Final Rule has arrived!

by Ruth Griggs | Sands Anderson PC on 4/9/2013

If you are a health care provider and/or someone who routinely performs work involving patient health information on behalf of a health care provider, you likely need to know about the HIPAA/HITECH Final Rule....more

Thoughts on Regulatory Constraints of Business Models

by Seth Mailhot | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/8/2013

I am often called upon to address the nature of how regulatory controls may apply to the organization of healthcare companies in their ability to create, deliver, and capture value (their ‘business models’). While no...more

Newly Effective HIPAA Omnibus Rule Makes Sweeping Changes to HIPAA

by Alicia Gilleskie, Mary Pat Sullivan | Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell &... on 4/5/2013

The long-awaited final omnibus rule (Omnibus Rule) that modifies the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) [1] took effect last week, on March 26, 2013. Leon Rodriguez, Director of the U.S....more

HIPAA’S FINAL RULE: Putting Things in Perspective – Comments from OCR

by Patricia Shea | K&L Gates LLP on 4/2/2013

On March 22, 2013, Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) Director Leon Rodriguez presented the keynote address to attendees of the American Health Lawyers’ Association HIPAA/HITECH Conference in...more

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Employee Benefits Alert: New HIPAA regulations for sponsors of group health plans

by Jim Prince | McAfee & Taft on 3/27/2013

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released its final regulations – also known as the “Final Rule” or “Omnibus Rule” – modifying the privacy, security, breach notification and enforcement rules...more

Burr Alert: Employer Obligations Under New HIPAA Rules

by C. Logan Hinkle, Debra Lee Mackey | Burr & Forman on 3/26/2013

With all of the attention garnered by healthcare reform, it would be easy to overlook the new HIPAA rules (the "Rules") applicable to covered entities under HIPAA, which include employer group health plans. Compliance with...more

Countdown Begins for HIPAA Omnibus Rule Compliance

by Dianne Bourque, Stephanie Willis | Mintz Levin - Health Law on 3/26/2013

The HIPAA Omnibus Rule goes into effect today, which officially starts the clock for covered entities, business associates, and their subcontractors to begin updating their agreements, forms, policies, procedures, and...more

OCR Wants Feedback From Audited Covered Entities

by Dianne Bourque | Mintz Levin - Health Law on 3/20/2013

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is preparing to conduct an online survey of the 115 covered entities it audited in 2012 as part of the HITECH-mandated, pilot audit program. OCR hopes to use the survey results to evaluate...more

What We Need to Do to Comply with the Final HIPAA Rule: A Summary of the Privacy Obligations for Health Care Providers, Health...

by Cheryl Murray | Winstead PC on 3/19/2013

On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the highly anticipated Omnibus Rule, which makes extensive changes (as promulgated by the Health Information Technology for Economic and...more