ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Web-based Tracking Technology and AI: HIPAA Compliance Issues for Health Care Practices
Hybrid Workforces and Compliance with Sheila Limmroth
HIPPA: Privacy & Security and Potential Rule Changes
On June 20, 2024, a U.S. federal district court held, in a suit brought by Jones Day, that the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") had misapplied the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA")...more
October has been a busy month for the OCR, which is tasked with enforcing the regulations issued under HIPAA. In the past week, the OCR released two new guidance documents aimed at reducing the privacy and security risks...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
On December 1, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Bulletin on the obligations of covered entities and business associates (regulated entities) under the...more
Most companies operating websites and mobile apps use some form of tracking technologies on these digital properties. While these types of technologies have been used for some time and serve a variety of purposes, the use of...more
In June 2022, the HHS Office for Civil Rights issued new HIPAA Privacy Rule Guidance in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization and state legislation which followed the decision...more
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Biden Administration has outlined a framework for federal executive action designed to protect access to...more
Many states have enacted or revived statutes limiting or barring access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and further legislative or...more
On June 29, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) issued guidance on when entities...more
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) yesterday issued guidance addressing how the Health...more
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights issued guidance to help the public and employers understand what privacy rules apply to disclosures and requests for...more
The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), which is the federal agency that enforces the health care privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), recently published guidance covering various...more
On September 30, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued FAQs addressing how the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to individuals’ disclosures of their COVID-19 vaccination status in the workplace and health...more
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office for Civil Rights in Action (OCR) issued a warning that cybercriminals are attempting to exploit a critical vulnerability in VMware software. This alert originates from...more
With limited exceptions, HIPAA generally gives individuals the right to access or obtain copies of their protected health information ("PHI") from covered entities. (45 CFR § 164.524(a)). But the right of access does not...more
Halloween or HIPAA: Which is Scarier? HIPAA and the Pandemic - Telehealth: - On Friday, March 20, 2020, OCR announced it will “exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties for noncompliance with...more
The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued updated guidance on contacting former COVID-19 patients about blood plasma donation in light of the privacy protections...more
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many health care providers have had a myriad of HIPAA questions, including questions about whether they can share some types of information and, if so, the type of information they can share with...more
As a result of the novel Coronavirus pandemic, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued several pieces of guidance to help HIPAA covered entities and their business associates to best address how patient information...more
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) last month provided guidance and a reminder to HIPAA covered entities and their business associates regarding the sharing of patient health information (PHI) under the Health Insurance...more
School leaders are often understandably confused as to which law applies to health- or medical-related records in schools: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or the Health Insurance Portability and...more
On February 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a bulletin (the Bulletin) to remind covered entities and business associates of how patient information may be shared under HIPAA in the event...more
On December 19, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) provided new joint guidance on the release of certain student records. In summary, this HHS/DOE release...more
For the first time in over a decade, the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR) have released updated joint guidance addressing the...more