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
In today’s busy world, convenience is a prized commodity. From pre-ordering and paying online for your favorite Starbucks drink to pulling up instantaneous directions on Google Maps, people value solutions that save time and...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
Oregon Health & Science University (“OHSU”) has paid $2.7 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) to settle allegations that it violated the Health Insurance Portability...more
7/20/2016
/ Business Associates ,
Corrective Actions ,
Data Security ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Encryption ,
Fines ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Settlement Agreements
Question: Can a Pennsylvania prison forcibly administer a psychotropic medication to an inmate against the inmate’s will?
Answer: In Pennsylvania, a prison’s ability to forcibly medicate an inmate with a psychotropic...more
Question: I have heard about non-compete clauses being negotiated in employment agreements with physicians. What is a non-compete clause? What does it mean if my contract has a non-compete clause?...more
By August 1, 2016, all federal agencies must adjust their civil monetary penalties, including penalties required by the False Claims Act (“FCA”), to account for inflation. Last month, the Railroad Retirement Board, which...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
The Health Law Gurus™ are here to help you stay current on issues and breaking news in health law. To help you stay up-to-date, we are excited to announce our new segment, “Ask the Health Law Gurus™.” Each month, we will...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
Earlier this month, Henry Schein Practice Solutions, Inc. (“Schein”), a provider of office management software to dental practices, learned the hard way that exaggerating the capabilities of its products can be very costly....more
Medical tourism is the term used to describe the movement of patients across international borders in pursuit of medical care and treatment. While in the United States the term is usually associated with Americans leaving the...more
The Precision Medicine Initiative (“PMI”) was officially unveiled in President Obama’s January 2015 State of the Union address. Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease prevention and treatment that considers an...more
Wearable devices, such as fitness trackers and smart watches, have taken the United States technology industry by storm. In the past three years, there has been a 500% increase in the number of fitness bands and activity...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
Just before Thanksgiving, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (“Lahey”), a non-profit teaching hospital located in Burlington, Massachusetts, agreed to pay $850,000 for a breach of unsecured electronic protected health...more
On October 30, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (“CMS”) issued a final regulation that includes modifications to the Stark Law (the “Final Rule”). Among other things, the Final Rule adds two new exceptions to the...more
In the past few years, medical devices have become a major target for online criminals. Not only are medical devices considered to be one of the easiest and most vulnerable points of entry into a health care enterprise, they...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
This week, the Senate passed a cybersecurity bill, called the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (the “CISA”), by a vote of 74 to 21. With the Senate’s vote, the bill is one step closer to becoming law....more
In July, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed legislation that expands the access, registration, and utilization of the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program (NJPMP). The legislation, Senate Bill 1998 (S-1998), is...more
10/28/2015
/ Chris Christie ,
Controlled Substances ,
Data Collection ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacist ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Substance Abuse
Cancer Care Group, P.C. (“CCG”), a radiation oncology physician group practice in Indiana, agreed to pay $750,000 for a breach of unsecured electronic protected health information (“ePHI”). CCG will also implement a...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued a new advisory opinion finding that free introductory visits (the “Introductory Visits”) for patients offered by a home health...more