HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
Attestations are at the heart of permissible disclosures under the HHS Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) new reproductive health privacy rule—and OCR wants covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BA) to use them now. The...more
On May 31, 2024, more than four months after the February 2024 Change Healthcare ransomware attack, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) updated its Change Healthcare FAQs. ...more
Who will notify the potentially millions of individuals whose information might have been jeopardized by the massive cyberattack on Change Healthcare? Since the affiliate of UnitedHealth Group (UHG) first reported the...more
After months of uncertainty and multiple letters from industry associations advocating on behalf of the healthcare industry with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), covered...more
The HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules apply to healthcare providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plans, including employee group health plans with...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
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) updated its guidance in mid-March on the “Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates” to highlight...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently published an executive summary (Report) outlining key enforcement activities of the Health Insurance Portability and...more
On Feb. 16, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published its 2022 Annual Report to Congress. ...more
The long-anticipated final rule addressing substance use disorder (SUD) records at 42 C.F.R. Part 2, commonly referred to as Part 2, is here. The final rule is a joint undertaking by the U.S. Department of Health and Human...more
For healthcare providers and health systems covered by the privacy and security regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI)...more
2023 marked a pivotal moment in US data privacy and cybersecurity, characterized by substantial regulatory and legislative advances at the international, federal, and state levels. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took a...more
On July 20, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) through the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint letter to hospitals and telehealth providers alerting them to...more
If you are involved with any health information, even if you are not covered by HIPAA, you should be aware of the government’s recent position that there may be serious privacy and serious risks with use of online tracking...more
The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights are cautioning hospitals and telehealth providers about the privacy and security risks related to the use of online...more
On June 30, 2023, Mount Desert Island Hospital (“MDIH”) filed a notice of data breach with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights after discovering that an unauthorized party had gained...more
Privacy Briefs: June 2023 - Long-term care pharmacy network PharMerica disclosed a breach involving more than 5.8 million patients, making it the largest breach reported to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the last...more
The proliferation of health apps and connected devices that allow individuals to track their health conditions, treatment, medications, fitness, fertility, sleep, mental health, diet and other vital areas has led to increased...more
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently submitted two annual reports to Congress setting forth a summary of complaints and breaches reported to the OCR during...more
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 4 (April, 2022) - By many measures, David Northcutt’s unsuccessful 2018 bid for the Alabama senate was a costly one. Northcutt, a dentist, loaned his campaign $73,000 throughout the...more
March 1, 2022, is the date by which HIPAA-covered entities must notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of "small" breaches of unsecured protected health information that were...more
March 1, 2021, is the due date for HIPAA-covered entities to notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) about "small" breaches of unsecured protected health information discovered...more
Halloween or HIPAA: Which is Scarier? HIPAA and the Pandemic - Telehealth: - On Friday, March 20, 2020, OCR announced it will “exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties for noncompliance with...more
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic visited on America in the past several months has quickly reinvigorated the foundational and important debate concerning where, in a free society, individual autonomy ends (or should end) and...more
On March 20, 2020 OCR released a Frequently Asked Questions list to help further clarify its March 17th Waiver. In the FAQ, OCR clarifies that the waiver not only allows providers to utilize platforms that do not comply with...more