Given what the healthcare industry faced in 2020, the seventh edition of our Data Security Incident Response (DSIR) Report, “Disruption and Transformation,” is aptly titled. As if fighting the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t enough...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has pursued its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative since 2019. OCR’s 19th settlement under the initiative, with The Diabetes, Endocrinology &...more
Renown Health, P.C. (Renown), a non-profit health system in Nevada, settled with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a matter resulting from an enforcement action for...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 7 (February 22, 2021) - A Michigan woman is the first in the nation to be charged criminally with misappropriating money from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), the Department of Justice...more
In December 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced proposed major revisions to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which would be the first significant changes to the Privacy Rule since the 2013 Omnibus Rule. ...more
The applicability date for the Information Blocking regulations in the ONC Cures Act Final Rule was set as November 2, 2020, but was subsequently adjusted in the ONC Interim Final Rule to April 5, 2021, in recognition of the...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 2 (January 18, 2021) - Recovery audit contractors (RACs) may soon be auditing positron emission tomography (PET) for initial treatment strategy in oncologic conditions for compliance...more
On December 10, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced proposed revisions to the HIPAA Privacy Rule that would significantly impact the day-to-day operations of HIPAA covered entities. In this...more
On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued its Industry Report on the HIPAA audits it conducted in 2016 and 2017. OCR found widespread noncompliance with...more
On November 19, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced it had settled its 12th enforcement action in its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative (the...more
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a press release on November 12, 2020, announcing that it had settled its eleventh enforcement action in its HIPAA Right-of-Access Initiative. The settlement with Dr. Rajendra Bhayani,...more
In 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced the Right of Access Initiative, promising to vigorously enforce the rights of patients to receive copies of their medical records...more
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced yesterday that it has settled five investigations in its HIPAA Rights to Access Initiative (Initiative), which it announced would be an enforcement priority for it starting in 2019....more
Enforcement of the OCR’s HIPAA Right of Access Initiative (“Initiative”) is in full swing and does not look like it will abate any time soon. The Initiative aims to enforce the rights of patients to timely receive copies of...more
On December 12, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second “HIPAA Right of Access Initiative” settlement of alleged HIPAA violations....more
On December 12, 2019, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second enforcement action this year related to an individual’s right to access his/her protected health information (PHI). Korunda Medical, LLC (Korunda)...more
Regulators, industry experts, and researchers provided insight into health privacy and security enforcement trends, emerging threats, and new tools at a recent conference focused on the Health Insurance Portability and...more
On September 9, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the first enforcement action and settlement in its Right of Access Initiative (the “Initiative”). ...more
In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) provided a variety of guidance to address the importance of honoring the right of patients to have access to their medical information and...more
Over the past several years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has taken various steps to ensure compliance with the right of access by covered entities. The Phase 2 audits...more
On September 9, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had settled its first ever HIPAA enforcement action arising from alleged violations of the individual...more
On July 19, 2016, the ONC submitted a report to Congress which suggests that health privacy regulations soon may be revised to catch up with the universe of mHealth technologies that now use and share personal health data....more