We just want to provide a friendly reminder that, before key staff depart for the holidays, HIPAA covered entities and business associates should finalize their compliance with the 2024 HIPAA amendments related to...more
12/19/2024
/ Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
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Deadlines ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
New Amendments ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Settlement
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that HHS's December 1, 2022, guidance applying HIPAA to online tracking technologies is unlawful with respect to its treatment of certain combinations of...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week released final amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to further protect the privacy of protected health information (PHI) related to reproductive health care....more
4/29/2024
/ Attestation Requirements ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
HITECH Act ,
New Amendments ,
Patients ,
PHI ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues
Changes to guidance are unlikely to mitigate widespread concerns -
On March 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) revised its controversial guidance on how HIPAA applies...more
The long-anticipated final rule addressing substance use disorder (SUD) records at 42 C.F.R. Part 2, commonly referred to as Part 2, is here. The final rule is a joint undertaking by the U.S. Department of Health and Human...more
2/21/2024
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
CARES Act ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Consent Agreements ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
OCR ,
Penalties ,
PHI ,
Risk Assessment ,
SAMHSA ,
Substance Abuse
On April 27, 2023, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the My Health My Data Act (the "Act"), which will regulate the collection, use, and disclosure of "consumer health data" ("Consumer Health Data" or "CHD"). The...more
5/2/2023
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Private Right of Action
Walking a middle path, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published proposed amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule on April 17, 2023, to further safeguard the privacy of reproductive health care information. This comes in...more
HIPAA-covered entities must notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of "small" breaches of unsecured protected health information that were discovered during calendar-year 2022 no...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a bulletin on December 1, 2022, clarifying that "regulated entities are not permitted to use tracking technologies in a manner that would...more
On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced new guidance on using remote communication technologies to provide audio-only telehealth services in compliance with...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced four enforcement resolutions at the end of March 2022, with issues ranging from the misuse of protected health information (PHI)...more
March 1, 2022, is the date by which HIPAA-covered entities must notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of "small" breaches of unsecured protected health information that were...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced a 45-day extension of the comment period for proposed changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The deadline for submitting comments now has been pushed from...more
March 1, 2021, is the due date for HIPAA-covered entities to notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) about "small" breaches of unsecured protected health information discovered...more
On January 21, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published proposed changes to the privacy rule (Privacy Rule) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This Notice of Proposed...more
Telehealth is an essential tool in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic as well as in treating other ailments during this time. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued a...more
In a Rare Imposition of HIPAA Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) Rather than Settlement, What to Accept May Have Been the Question -
On October 23, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights...more
When a patient publicly disparages a health care provider, HIPAA leaves the health care provider in a seemingly impossible situation. If the health care provider does not respond and dispute the allegation, then its...more
HIPAA and 15-minutes-of-fame are not compatible. In September 2018, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that it had reached settlements with Boston Medical Center...more
Recent statements at the 27th National HIPAA Summit suggest that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) may be changing its position and expecting a greater level of vendor due...more
What if Artificial Intelligence (AI) is deployed within a health system to apply machine learning to patient information, in part, to allow patients to download information and wellness numbers (such as steps, blood pressure,...more
March 1, 2018 is the date by which HIPAA covered entities must notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of “small” breaches of unsecured protected health information that were...more
The administrative simplification provision of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its implementing regulations (HIPAA) impose obligations on employer-sponsored group health plans. Given recent...more
A not-for-profit health care system recently agreed to pay the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $2.4 million as part of a settlement over potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)...more
On April 24, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that CardioNet, a provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac...more