Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health System said it experienced a breach impacting more than 1.27 million patients when a former employee of vendor Nuance Communications Inc., a Microsoft Corp. subsidiary, accessed patient...more
On February 6, 2024, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a settlement with Montefiore Medical Center (“MMC”) for alleged HIPAA Security Rule violations and MMC agreed to pay $4.75 million and enter into a...more
With a couple of “firsts,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is signaling that it is cracking down on healthcare organizations that fail to identify and address cybersecurity...more
On December 6, 2023, HHS released a concept paper that outlines the Department’s cybersecurity strategy for the healthcare sector titled, “Healthcare Sector Cybersecurity Strategy.” HHS reports that cyber incidents in...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") has entered into its first settlement of potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") violations arising out...more
Paying the $1.3 million fine is the easy part. Complying with the CAP is a different undertaking. On Sept. 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced an...more
Five Years After ‘a Singular Human Error,’ Two Breach Notices, Revenue Firm Settles With OCR - As far as settlements for alleged HIPAA violations go, a recent agreement announced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR)...more
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 10 (October, 2022) - Thirty Democratic senators led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., have called on HHS to strengthen federal privacy protections under HIPAA to broadly restrict providers...more
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 8 (August, 2022) - Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences’ (OSUCHS) breach might not have seemed all that serious at the time: No data is believed to have been misused,...more
Most people have heard of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), so it’s not surprising that companies dealing with digital health information will have to be HIPAA compliant. To do so, any protected...more
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 5 (May, 2022) - Compared to other agencies, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a little fish in the big federal pond, but it has an outsize effect on HIPAA covered entities (CEs) and...more
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) just announced increased penalty amounts for entities who violate the privacy, security, and breach notification rules under the Health Insurance Portability and...more
Report on Patient Privacy 20, no. 9 (September 2020) - The fact that people are the weakest link in compliance is a truism in the privacy and security world. But just how weak is this link, and how likely is it that...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
West Georgia Ambulance, Inc. (West Georgia) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) entered into a $65,000 no-fault settlement agreement and two year corrective action...more