News & Analysis as of October 13, 2024

Business Associates › Office of Civil Rights › Hackers

+ Follow

Business Associates can refer broadly to individuals engaged in business relationships with one another. However, in the HIPAA context, the term has a specific statutory meaning and those characterized as... more +

Business Associates can refer broadly to individuals engaged in business relationships with one another. However, in the HIPAA context, the term has a specific statutory meaning and those characterized as business associates have expanded data protection obligations and duties. Essentially, a business associate under HIPAA is a person or entity that performs certain functions or services which necessitates exposure to protected health information on behalf of a covered entity. Typical business associate functions include: claims processing or administration, data analysis, billing, etc. less -

‘I Will Not Rest’; ‘I Am All In’: Remarkable Breach Hearing Sees Pledges by UHG CEO, Sen. Wyden

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) on 5/13/2024

United Healthcare Group (UHG) CEO Andrew Witty was in a board meeting on Feb. 21 when officials interrupted with the news that Change Healthcare—a clearinghouse UHG subsidiary Optum had purchased for $1.3 billion in October...more

Settlement Involves 'Dark Overlord' Hack, Tip by Breach-Tracking Journalist

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) on 10/16/2020

Report on Patient Privacy 20, no. 10 (October 2020) - September was quite the month for enforcement actions by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The agency announced eight settlements totaling more than $10 million....more

COVID-19 and Data Protection Compliance in the US

White & Case LLP on 4/15/2020

Irrespective of your industry, the current COVID-19 pandemic poses a new and unique challenge to organizations, their employees, and their customers. The emergence of COVID-19 has prompted organizations to collect and process...more

Report on Patient Privacy Volume 19, Number 11. Privacy Briefs: November 2019

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) on 11/12/2019

Report on Patient Privacy Volume 19, Number 11. (November 2019) ? The biggest threat to protected health information comes from carelessness within your organization, according to a brief from the Clearwater...more

HIPAA Guidance and Enforcement: A New Alignment?

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/5/2019

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has entered into a settlement with a business associate that provides electronic medical records services to health...more

Hacked Business Associate Agrees to Pay $100,000 as Part of HIPAA Settlement

Saul Ewing LLP on 5/29/2019

On May 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced that Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc. (MIE) agreed to pay $100,000 to settle alleged HIPAA violations that...more

HIPAA Security And “Zero Day” Exploits: How To Stay Ahead Of The Hack

Fox Rothschild LLP on 4/5/2019

HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR)’s April 3, 2019 cybersecurity newsletter highlights one of the more challenging cybersecurity vulnerabilities faced by covered entities and business associates. OCR reminds covered entities...more

OCR Alerts Listservs About Fake Phishing Email to Covered Entities and Business Associates

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider on 12/2/2016

On November 28, 2016, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued an Alert to its listservs that a phishing email is being circulated on “mock HHS Departmental letterhead under the signature of OCR”s Director, Jocelyn Samuels”...more

HHS Publishes New Guidance on HIPAA and Cloud Computing

Stinson LLP on 10/27/2016

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a new guidance regarding HIPAA compliance and the use of cloud computing solutions. The guidance is intended to assist covered entities...more

Blog: GAO Criticizes HHS In Health Information Cybersecurity Report

Cooley LLP on 9/30/2016

On Monday, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report (the “Report”) criticizing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) security and privacy guidance and oversight in protecting...more

OCR Makes It Official: Ransomware Attacks Are HIPAA Breaches

McGuireWoods LLP on 7/27/2016

Ransomware attacks appear to be increasing in frequency as well as severity. Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data until a ransom is paid to the hacker. For healthcare providers, the inability to access...more

OCR Announces New HIPAA Guidance on Ransomware

Cozen O'Connor on 7/14/2016

In response to the increasing prevalence of ransomware cyber-attacks by hackers on electronic health information systems in hospitals and medical practices, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil...more

Data-Harvesting Zombie Hackers, Blood-Thirsty Auditors, and Other Reasons to be Scared on Halloween

Mintz - Health Care Viewpoints on 10/30/2015

This Halloween, the scariest monsters might not be in your closet or under your bed. They may be overseas, orchestrating intrusions into your electronic medical record. Or they may be lurking in your own workforce, carrying...more

13 Results

/

View per page

Page: of 1