Certain California-licensed healthcare facilities are now subject to additional breach reporting obligations pursuant to regulations (Regulations)[1] issued by the California Department of Public Health (Department) on July...more
In the latest twist in a case that began last year, an administrative law judge (ALJ) agreed that a $4.3 million penalty, levied by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against the MD Anderson Cancer Center as a result of HIPAA...more
Conducting HIPAA Breach Risk Assessments - The HIPAA rules relating to assessment of potential patient confidentiality breaches were changed in 2013. Specifically, on January 17, 2013, the Office of Civil Rights released...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two reports yesterday calling for the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to strengthen its Health Insurance Portability and...more
Earlier this month, a California jury found the University of California, Los Angeles Health System (UCLA) not liable for damages that allegedly resulted when a medical office assistant, Alexis Price, improperly accessed and...more
Last week, Cancer Care Group, P.C. (CCG), an Indiana radiation oncology practice, agreed to settle alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) by paying $750,000 and adopting...more
Alleged HIPAA Violations Resulted from Medical Center’s Failure to Risk Assess Internet-Based Document Sharing Application and Inadequate Breach Response. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for...more
Many telehealth and mHealth app developers are concerned about whether or not their app is a medical device under FDA regulations (and rightfully so), they often pay less attention to the Health Insurance Portability and...more
As of early December 2014, 1,170 security breaches under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) involving 31 million records had been reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...more
In an opinion released on November 11, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on whether the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and its implementing regulations preempt a common law claim for...more
Health care providers have not escaped the recent proliferation of data breach class actions, but plaintiffs generally have been unsuccessful in bringing claims based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
The most common defense against class actions for data breach has itself been breached in a ruling last week by the West Virginia Supreme Court....more
New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University entered into a settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to resolve allegations that the organizations had violated the...more
On May 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a press release announcing that two health care organizations—New York and Presbyterian Hospital (“NYP”) and Columbia...more
It would be pretty unsettling if your patient status, vital signs, medications, and laboratory results were available for the world to see on Google, wouldn’t it? According to recent settlement agreements announced by the...more
Changes to the HIPAA Security Rule Background: The HIPAA Security Rule protects electronic PHI by requiring Covered Entities to implement certain administrative, physical, and technical safeguards surrounding...more
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) started 2013 with a bang by announcing that it had reached "the first settlement involving a breach of unprotected electronic protected health information (ePHI) affecting fewer than 500...more
On January 2, 2013, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced its first HIPAA breach settlement involving less than 500 patients. OCR took action against a hospice provider in...more
On January 2, 2013, HHS announced that the Hospice of North Idaho (HONI) agreed to pay $50,000 and enter into a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) as part of a settlement involving a breach of unsecured electronic protected health...more
On January 2, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a settlement with the Hospice of North Idaho (HONI) for potential HIPAA violations....more
In what is best understood as a follow-up to both the recent settlement with MEEI and the release of its mobile device security guidance, HHS OCR recently released details of a settlement reached with the Hospice of Northern...more