HIPAA and Health Information

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A federal district court in Montana has confirmed that HIPAA precludes a private right of action for patients to claim an unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of protected health information.  Nonetheless, the court denied the defendant covered entity’s motion to dismiss the complaint, holding that the plaintiff could move forward with state-specific claims of invasion…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that it has entered into the 20th settlement under its Right of Access Initiative. The settlement with Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Nebraska includes an $80,000 payment by the hospital for failing to provide a mother with timely access to her daughter’s medical records.

According…

A fertility clinic in California cannot escape a lawsuit brought by a patient after the clinic sent private information to the individual’s entire work team.

The clinic, Lane Fertility Institute for Education and Research (Lane), emailed a client regarding an embryo transfer procedure she had undergone the prior year, seeking information about her resulting pregnancy.…

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently issued its Summer 2021 Cybersecurity Newsletter, which focuses on controlling access to electronic personal health information (ePHI) and the HIPAA Security Rule standards. Citing to a recent report of security incidents and data breaches in the health care…

Last week, Diabetes, Endocrinology & Lipidology Center Inc. (DELC) of West Virginia reached a $5,000 settlement with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) over  allegations that it failed to provide timely access to a patient’s health records.   The OCR alleged that DELC waited more than two years to send a minor’s medical records to their…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) this week announced a settlement with Peachstate Health Management LLC (aka AEON Clinical Laboratories) following a compliance review that uncovered alleged violations of HIPAA.

The settlement includes a $25,000 payment to OCR by Peachstate, a corrective action plan, and three years of monitoring by OCR.

OCR initiated a compliance…

Continuing its serious march against covered entities not allowing patients access to their records, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has settled two more cases in two days in its Right of Access Initiative. This brings the tally of OCR’s settlements to a total of 18.

The 17th settlement, with The Arbour, Inc., d/b/a Arbour…

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 a potential violation of patients’ access rights under the OCR’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996…

The state of Virginia might be the next state to enact a privacy law. Senate Bill No. 1392 recently passed the Senate and is likely on its way to Governor Ralph Northam’s desk.  The bill adds the Consumer Data Protection Act to the Virginia Code and includes definitions of biometric data, precise geolocation data, profiling,…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced another settlement involving investigations under its Right of Access Initiative. This settlement, the sixteenth such agreement under the Initiative (and one of the most interesting), involves San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare, doing business as Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Centers (SRMC). In the settlement, OCR alleged that it received a…