New HIPAA Final Rule: Key Changes to Reproductive Health Care Privacy - Thought Leaders in Health Law®
Health Tech Podcast - Episode 3: HIPAA, HITECH and TCPA
The Biggest Changes in HIPAA/HITECH Omnibus Rule & Recommended Action Steps—Ted Kobus
On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Security Standards for the Protection of...more
Americans hear about cybersecurity incidents on a frequent basis. As the adage goes, it is not a matter of “if” a breach or security hack occurs; it is a matter of “when.”...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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently published an executive summary (Report) outlining key enforcement activities of the Health Insurance Portability and...more
On Feb. 16, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published its 2022 Annual Report to Congress. ...more
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a final rule modifying 42 CFR Part 2 (Part 2) provisions regarding the confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Patient Records. The...more
Millions of women use reproductive health applications (or “apps”) to track menstrual cycles, ovulation, and pregnancy. These apps provide women that use the rhythm method for birth control and women seeking to become...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 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted a policy statement on Sept. 15, 2021, emphasizing that developers of digital health apps, connected devices and other health products have obligations under the Health Breach...more
Thanks to a federal judge, the Office for Civil Rights has modified its rules for sending records to third parties. Covered entities are no longer required by HIPAA to send non-electronic protected health information (“PHI”)...more
The HIPAA privacy rules have been in the news a lot lately. That’s good, but not when it’s for the wrong reasons or based on a misunderstanding of the rules....more
New guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reaffirms that business associates must have proper HIPAA compliance practices, safeguards and documentation in place...more
Business Associates – beware. On May 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services O?ce for Civil Rights (“OCR”) released a fact sheet on the direct liability of business associates under HIPAA (“Fact Sheet”)....more
The HITECH Act extended certain HIPAA obligations to business associates, including those entities that create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information (“PHI”) on behalf of covered entities. Business...more
In two recent pronouncements, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken a balanced approach to interpreting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations that...more
The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it is lowering the maximum amount it will assess for most types of HIPAA violations. Although the change is couched as an exercise of discretion, HHS states that...more
Last month, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) looking for recommendations and public input regarding the Health...more
The Request for Information on Modifying HIPAA Rules to Improve Coordinated Care is slated for publication in the federal register tomorrow. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued an...more
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act modified the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) by expanding the definition of Business Associates (“BA”) and their...more
Nary a week goes by without news of a data breach by a healthcare provider…while there are certainly a good number of breaches resulting from a breach of cybersecurity defenses or from the wrongful exploitation of system...more
Breaches happen. They happen to major health systems, and they happen to solo practitioners. They happen to health plans, and they happen to health information technology vendors. In our technology-reliant world, it would be...more
Last week the Health Care Compliance Association hosted its annual “Compliance Institute.” Iliana Peters, HHS Office for Civil Rights’ Senior Advisor for HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement, provided a thorough update of HIPAA...more
What covered entities and business associates can do to prepare for the next round of audits. On July 11, the HIPAA Phase 2 audits commenced when 167 covered entities received notice of a desk audit from the Department...more
As we previously reported, on March 21, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched the long-awaited Phase 2 of the audit program that is intended to assess compliance with...more