Office for Civil Rights

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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…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that it had entered into a Resolution Agreement, Corrective Action Plan, and settlement with Lifetime Healthcare, Inc., the parent of Excellus Health Plan, over alleged violations of HIPAA relating to a data breach that occurred from December 23, 2013 through…

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, an otolaryngologist (ENT) practicing in Regal Park, New York, included a payment of $15,000, a corrective action plan and two years…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently settled a tenth case under its right-to-access initiative with California-based Riverside Psychiatric Medical Group (RPMG), for $25,000.

Although a relatively small settlement in the amount paid, it shows that the OCR is taking patients’ requests for access to their medical records seriously, and that no complaint is too…

Continuing its enforcement priority of assisting patients with obtaining access to their health records, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently settled its ninth case with a covered entity that it alleged failed to provide proper access of health records to a patient.

NY Spine Medicine, a medical practice providing neurological and pain management series…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced yesterday that it has settled five investigations in its HIPAA “Rights to Access” Initiative (Initiative), which OCR had stated would be an enforcement priority for it starting in 2019. The Initiative is “to support individuals’ right to timely access to their health records at a reasonable cost under…

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued additional guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on HIPAA and telehealth services to help providers furnish care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FAQs follow and provide further information on the Notification of Enforcement Discretion issued by HHS…

Every year, we remind our readers that the HIPAA data breach notification regulations require covered entities to notify the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of any reportable data breaches that involved fewer than 500 individuals and have not already been self-reported within 60 days following the calendar year. That means that covered entities are required…