Leveraging Knowledge to Manage Your Data Risks
Small health care organizations may think they are under the radar of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), but a settlement the OCR agreed to last week should disabuse small health care providers of that notion.
On July 23, 2020, the OCR issued a press release outlining the terms of its settlement with Metropolitan Community…
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…
Elite Dental Associates (Elite), located in Dallas, Texas has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for $10,000.
The OCR alleged that it received a complaint from a patient in June of 2016 that Elite had disclosed the patient’s last name and details of the patient’s health condition on…
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 right to access health information under HIPAA. OCR entered into a settlement with Bayfront Health St. Petersburg (Bayfront) in response…
July 2019 was the worst month in history for health care data breaches, with a total of 50 breaches that affected more than 500 records reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), according to HIPAA Journal. Those 50 reportable data breaches exposed more than 35 million individuals’ health care records.
HIPAA Journal opines…
On April 18, 2019, the Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued five new FAQs addressing the applicability of HIPAA to the use of software applications (apps) by individuals to receive health information from their providers.
The new FAQs are available here under the Header “Access Right, Apps and APIs.”…
We previously reported that Cottage Health, a health care entity operating several hospitals in California, settled with the State of California for $3 million in regard to a security incident that occurred in 2013. On February 7, 2019, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a press release that it settled HIPAA violations in December…
On December 14, 2018 the Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting public input on updates to regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with the goals of removing “regulatory obstacles” and decreasing “regulatory burdens” in furtherance of the health care industry’s transition to value-based care models.
Continue Reading OCR Issues Request for Information Regarding Modification of HIPAA To Promote Care Coordination and Transition to Value-Based Care
The Office for Civil Rights has announced that it has settled with Lakeland, Florida based Advanced Care Hospitalists (ACH) for $500,000 for allegations of an impermissible disclosure of protected health information by one of its business associates. ACH provides contract internal medicine physicians to nursing homes and hospitals.
According to the press release, between November…
