Hybrid Workforces and Compliance with Sheila Limmroth
HIPPA: Privacy & Security and Potential Rule Changes
Compliance Perspective: What's New in Healthcare Privacy
Following the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recent publication of four settlements as part of a new Risk Analysis Audit Initiative. We explore the current regulatory language for Risk Analysis, the proposed language for Risk...more
With 2025 barely three weeks old, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has already announced six enforcement actions for the new year. Particularly significant is the advancement of...more
Material updates to the HIPAA Security Rule could be on the way — affecting all HIPAA-regulated entities — for the first time in two decades. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed...more
Last fall at the Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance Through HIPAA Security 2024 conference, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) promised that before year’s end, it would...more
In the wake of Change Healthcare’s February 2024 ransomware attack, which affected the protected health information (PHI) of at least 100 million individuals — the largest breach of PHI in history — the federal government’s...more
On November 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $90,000 settlement with Bryan County Ambulance Authority (“BCAA”), a provider of emergency medical...more
On October 2, 2024, New York adopted new regulations requiring general hospitals to implement heightened cybersecurity safeguards. General hospitals, as defined in Article 28 of the NY Public Health Law, generally must begin...more
On October 31, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) embraced the end of Spooky Season by announcing two more ransomware-related enforcement actions. ...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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has, as part of its mandate, the responsibility to enforce the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule....more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced its second settlement in four months growing out of a ransomware attack on a health care business. Maryland-based Green Ridge...more
Late last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its first HIPAA settlement agreement involving a ransomware attack. In the press release announcing the settlement, HHS stated that they began...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
On June 9, 2021, OCR distributed an update to those on its Privacy List sharing links to alerts and resources for addressing the growing number and size of ransomware incidents. One such resource included a White House memo...more
Given the choice between credit card data and digital health records, cybercriminals prefer the latter. A stolen credit card can be canceled. Electronic protected health information (ePHI) with its treasure-trove of...more