Updates to Statute 1557 that Healthcare Providers Need to Know
Privacy and Healthcare Business Associates with Isabella Porter
State Law Privacy Video Series | Healthcare Entities and Health Data
Gerry Blass on Healthcare Vendor Risk Management
AGG Talks: Technology - In the Balance: Interoperability and Security
Is Your Practice's Marketing HIPAA Compliant?
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Compliance Perspectives: Permissible Disclosures under HIPAA, Especially in the Time of COVID-19
Polsinelli Podcasts - Confusion to Clarity on the Future of the 340B Program
Polsinelli Podcast - HIPAA Changes Overview
Healthcare data breaches are occurring more frequently and on larger scales than ever before – and while you defend against cyberattacks and other external threats, make sure you do not overlook the critical role your...more
On February 14, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued its annual reports to Congress detailing its actions to enforce the privacy, security, and breach notification...more
Late last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its first HIPAA settlement agreement involving a ransomware attack. In the press release announcing the settlement, HHS stated that they began...more
On Oct. 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it had settled with Doctors’ Management Services Inc. (DMS) over a self-reported ransomware attack that occurred in...more
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 1 (January, 2022) - As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, real “security fatigue” with pandemic-related issues will combine with cybercriminals’ increasingly sophisticated...more
Report on Patient Privacy 21, no. 10 (October, 2021) - Conducting a risk analysis is a basic tenet of security compliance, with the overarching goal of understanding where protected health information (PHI) “lives” in an...more
Report on Patient Privacy 18, no. 1 (January 2021) - Security threats to health care entities will continue to escalate in 2021, as bad actors with significant capabilities target pandemic-weary organizations still...more
Report on Patient Privacy 20, no. 2 (February 2020) - A ruling from Georgia’s highest state court could set a precedent that determines recourse for victims of cyberattacks. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in late December...more
On May 29, 2018, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed changes to Colorado law that significantly increase potential data breach burdens and financial penalties on entities operating in Colorado.1 Beginning September 1,...more
On June 9, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released a cyber-attack “Quick Response” checklist (the Checklist) for the benefit of HIPAA covered entities and business...more
OCR released a simple checklist and infographic last week to assist Covered Entities and Business Associates with responding to potential cyber attacks. As cybersecurity remains a pressing concern for health care entities,...more
Recently, the WannaCry ransomware attack impacted 150 countries and over 300,000 computers. Not all ransomware attacks are so massive but they all are fast moving and require swift action to prevent destruction and lose of...more
The FBI has issued new guidance specifically applicable to medical and dental facilities regarding the cybersecurity risk of File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”) servers operating in “anonymous” mode. FTPs are routinely used to...more
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced that the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) has agreed to settle an investigation against it as a result of a malware infection for $650,000, along with implementing a...more
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
The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has issued new guidance in connection with an increase of malicious cyberattacks, namely ransomware attacks on healthcare organization’s computer systems. Ransomware is a defined by HHS as a...more
Ransomware attacks at hospitals and other healthcare facilities have dramatically increased over the last several years, putting healthcare providers in the uncomfortable position of having to consider paying thousands of...more
Ransomware is malicious software that denies access to data, usually by encrypting the data with a private encryption key that is only provided once a ransom is paid. Sometimes the ransomware will actually destroy, steal, or...more
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
On July 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) published new guidance on the how HIPAA applies to ransomware prevention and attacks. Specifically, the guidance lays out...more
On July 11, 2016, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance on HIPAA covered entities’ responsibilities in a ransomware attack, a type of cyber-attack that has targeted the health care sector extensively in...more
Ransomware is the fastest growing malware threat in the United States, targeting simple home computers to elaborate corporate IT networks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently reported an increase in ransomware...more
In response to a rising number of ransomware attacks on healthcare systems, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has issued new ransomware guidance on the HIPAA obligations of...more
On July 11, 2016, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released important new guidance on ransomware for hospitals and other healthcare providers and finally addressed the question of whether electronic protected health...more
From the rise in ransomware attacks to inadvertent disclosure of information by subcontractors, the health services industry is reminded that a potential consequence of a data breach is the threat of a regulatory enforcement...more