Hurricane Harvey has been pummeling the Gulf Coast since Monday, with nearly 52 inches of rainfall in parts of Texas. The storm has displaced thousands of people from their homes and has resulted in over 30 reported deaths....more
Could a lost cell phone or laptop cost your organization millions of dollars?
Mobile devices have enabled vast improvements in the efficiency and quality of healthcare delivery. ...more
The failure to timely report a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI) has cost Presence Health (one of the largest health systems in Illinois) almost half of a million dollars.
Earlier this month,...more
If you are an entity covered by Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Section 1557), you have less than a week to prepare your non-discrimination notices and taglines. The final rule implementing...more
This month marked the largest HIPAA settlement to-date for a single entity. Advocate Health Care Network (“Advocate”) agreed to pay $5.5 million and adopt a corrective action plan after an investigation by the Department of...more
One of the fastest growing areas of cybercrime is ransomware. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts data and makes it inaccessible to authorized users. The hackers who orchestrate ransomware attacks demand...more
OCR has announced several recent settlement agreements to resolve violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). These settlement amounts range from $25,000 to $3.9 million dollars and...more
Amidst criticism that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) lags behind technological innovation, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) released new guidance to aid app developers in determining how...more
For the second time in history, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has imposed a civil monetary penalty (“CMP”) against a covered entity for violations of the Health Insurance and Portability Act (“HIPAA”). Lincare, Inc., a...more
Triple-S Management Corporation (“Triple-S”), on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Triple-S Salud, Inc., Triple-C, Inc., and Triple-S Advantage, Inc., has agreed to pay $3.5 million as part of a Resolution Agreement...more
Beginning in 2016, the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will conduct another round of audits to gauge compliance with privacy provisions in the Health Insurance Portability...more
News from the Health Law Gurus™ is a weekly summary of notable health law news from around the country with helpful links to related content. Check back every week for the latest health law news stories....more
1/16/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Employer Mandates ,
Encryption ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
USPS
The New Year is here. It is time to make those 2015 resolutions, and not just those for getting fit and healthy. Resolve now to improve your organization’s compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability...more
1/6/2015
/ Best Management Practices ,
Business Associates ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
PHI ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Year-End Planning
Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Inc. (“ACMHS”) will pay $125,000 to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) to settle alleged violations of the Health Insurance...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
5/9/2014
/ Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Google ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
Non-Judicial Settlement Agreements ,
OCR ,
Patient Confidentiality Breaches ,
Patient Privacy Rights