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
Health care organizations are under pressure to shore up their cybersecurity response efforts. Much of this pressure is coming from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which has made...more
What's New? On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced an $800,000 settlement with a large Florida-based health care provider over potential violations of the...more
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
Welcome to your monthly rundown of all things cyber, privacy, and technology, where we highlight all the happenings you may have missed. ...more
Arecent report put the odds of an asteroid hitting the earth in December 2032 at 3.1%—which is 3,100 times more likely than an organization resolving an enforcement action with the U.S. Department of Health and Human...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
Recent federal enforcement actions have brought home the lesson that there’s really no acceptable reason for denying a patient timely access to medical records. Last year, for example, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR)...more
Recent enforcement actions, audit activity, proposed rulemakings, and guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) highlight the agency’s focus on health data...more
The Indiana Attorney General Office (OAG) filed a detailed complaint on December 23, 2024 (Complaint) which arose out of the following patient complaint: The OAG received a consumer complaint stating that the consumer had...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
Cyber, Privacy, and Technology Report - Welcome to your monthly rundown of all things cyber, privacy, and technology, where we highlight all the happenings you may have missed....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
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
Our Health Care and Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Groups cover an upcoming proposed rule from U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) that would formalize cybersecurity requirements and allow the Office for Civil Rights (OCR)...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
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
Before this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolved 70 breach investigations from which fines or civil monetary penalties were secured. Of those investigations, only...more
In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced the imposition of a civil monetary payment against Providence Medical Institute (“PMI”), a large medical...more
In the spirit of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) released a new video on October 17, 2024, to promote awareness on ransomware trends in the healthcare industry and how HIPAA subject...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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed a $240,000 civil monetary penalty against Providence Medical Institute in connection with a ransomware attack that revealed...more
In late September 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a settlement with Cascade Eye and Skin Centers, P.C., a health care provider in the state of...more