Compliance Perspective: What's New in Healthcare Privacy
In the past several weeks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") has announced settlements with three health care organizations — Comstar, LLC ("Comstar"); Guam Memorial...more
Ransomware attacks are a growing threat in the health care sector due to the value of personal health information (PHI). In addition to being expensive, these attacks can cripple health care operations, delay patient care,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to prioritize the protection of consumers’ digital health information. The agency has demonstrated this commitment through enforcement actions against GoodRx and BetterHelp for...more
Recently the Health Care Compliance Association released the new Health Care Privacy Handbook, 3rd Edition. https://www.hcca-info.org/health-care-privacy-handbook To learn what’s new in the book and in healthcare privacy...more
On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued its Industry Report on the HIPAA audits it conducted in 2016 and 2017. OCR found widespread noncompliance with...more
There is no question that COVID-19 has brought unprecedented change to our world. The temporary relaxation of HIPAA's requirements is one of many examples of the government's efforts to address the public's health care needs...more
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) took effect on January 1, 2020. Days later on January 8, 2020, the California Senate Health Committee unanimously approved Senate bill A.B. 713 (the “Bill”) to establish...more
This week, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $3,000,000 HIPAA settlement arising from a medical center’s loss of an unencrypted laptop and flash drive. This is simply the latest of many HIPAA settlements based...more
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) was created for one specific reason – evolution of technology. Today, health care providers are using online clinical applications and electronic health...more