HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
2022 DSIR Deeper Dive: OCR’s Right of Access Initiative
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
December 2024 was an active month for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"). OCR announced (i) a $1.19 million civil monetary penalty ("CMP") against Gulf Coast Pain...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed significant modifications to the HIPAA Security Rule and the HITECH Act in an attempt to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic protected health...more
As of December 23, health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses (covered entities) and their business associates (collectively, regulated entities) must comply with new reproductive health care privacy...more
It’s not immediately obvious why someone would want to disclose a health care test result as part of a job application. But one such request spurred a Pennsylvania entity to provide a lot more than that: it sent her whole...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
Change Healthcare Inc. has amended its initial breach report to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to state that 100 million individuals were impacted by its mammoth ransomware attack and breach. However, as of Oct. 24,...more
On April 22, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights issued a Final Rule titled HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (2024 Final Privacy Rule). Originally Published by the American Bar Association....more
President Ronald Reagan famously quipped, "I think you all know that I've always felt that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help."1 At an Oct. 23-24, 2024,...more
Let’s review for a moment. It’s not a HIPAA violation to be a victim of ransomware. It’s not a HIPAA violation to pay a ransom. It’s up to the covered entity (CE) to determine if a security or privacy incident is a...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently settled two ransomware cases with covered entities. These cases signal the government's growing concern with health care...more
The cyber breach at Change Healthcare in 2024 stands out as one of the most significant cyber-attacks in recent memory. Its repercussions extend far beyond immediate industry disruptions, resonating deeply in regulatory...more
On June 20, a federal district court in Texas ruled that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) exceeded its authority under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
On July 1, 2024, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that Pennsylvania-based healthcare system, Heritage Valley Health System (Heritage Valley), has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle potential violations of the...more
On June 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to vacate its guidance that had restricted...more
On Feb. 21, 2024, the ransomware hacker group ALPHV, otherwise known as "BlackCat," disabled Change Healthcare's nationwide healthcare billing and information systems and demanded a ransom to unlock them....more
On April 22, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced final regulatory updates to the Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of...more
On April 22, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule amending the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
Phishing, the act of impersonating a person or business to deceive a target into revealing sensitive information, has quickly become the tool of choice for scammers and cybercriminals. In 2023, the Federal Bureau of...more
On April 26, 2024, almost a year after issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the Privacy Rule, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) finalized the HIPAA Privacy Rule to...more
Who will notify the potentially millions of individuals whose information might have been jeopardized by the massive cyberattack on Change Healthcare? Since the affiliate of UnitedHealth Group (UHG) first reported the...more
On March 18, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) updated prior guidance concerning the use of online tracking technologies, including cookies, by Covered...more
The HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules apply to healthcare providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plans, including employee group health plans with...more
This issue of McDermott’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for April 2024. We discuss several US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency actions, including the Calendar Year (CY) 2025...more
It is critical for employers and plan fiduciaries/administrators to stay informed of HIPAA privacy and security-related legal developments because most employer sponsored group health plans — regardless of the employer’s...more
The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to eliminate the federal constitutional right to abortion continues to alter the legal landscape across the country. On April 26, 2024, the...more