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
2022 DSIR Deeper Dive: OCR’s Right of Access Initiative
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
On March 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement of HIPAA security rule claims involving Health Fitness Corporation (Health Fitness). Health Fitness...more
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the fifth enforcement action under its Risk Analysis Initiative. In this case, OCR reached a settlement with Health...more
2024 marked another significant year for privacy law, with new state legislation and high-stakes litigation reshaping the landscape. Legal battles over tracking technologies, biometric data, and children’s privacy...more
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) adopted a new proposal to strengthen the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security standards...more
Nearly six years to the day that Warby Parker reported a breach affecting nearly 200,000 individuals, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed a $1.5 million fine on the eyewear giant. Investigated by OCR under the Biden...more
Eyeglass manufacturer and retailer Warby Parker recently settled a 2018 data breach investigation by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for $1.5 million. According to OCR’s press release, Warby Parker self-reported that...more
Arecent report put the odds of an asteroid hitting the earth in December 2032 at 3.1%—which is 3,100 times more likely than an organization resolving an enforcement action with the U.S. Department of Health and Human...more
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $1.5 million civil money penalty (CMP) against Warby Parker, Inc. (WP). WP is a manufacturer and online...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently imposed a $1.5 million civil money penalty against Warby Parker, Inc., a manufacturer and online retailer of eyewear, for...more
The saga that led Children’s Hospital Colorado to accept a fine of more than $500,000 imposed by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began on July 11, 2017, when a physician’s email account containing details on 3,300...more
“Almost every stage of modern healthcare relies on stable and secure computer and network technologies.” The above is a direct quote from the Office of Civil Rights for Health & Human Services (“OCR”) in its proposed...more
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to update the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule—the...more
With 2025 barely three weeks old, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has already announced six enforcement actions for the new year. Particularly significant is the advancement of...more
Recent federal enforcement actions have brought home the lesson that there’s really no acceptable reason for denying a patient timely access to medical records. Last year, for example, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR)...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) appears to have made cybersecurity its New Year’s resolution. The first few weeks of 2025 have already brought with them proposed amendments to...more
DOJ Final Rule: New US Restrictions on Nearly All Foreign Access to Personal Data - The National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice has issued a sweeping final rule that would prevent access to...more
As Cyberattacks targeting the health care sector have continued to intensify over the past year, including ransomware attacks that have resulted in major data breaches impacting health care organizations, the protection of...more
December 2024 was an active month for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"). OCR announced (i) a $1.19 million civil monetary penalty ("CMP") against Gulf Coast Pain...more
The Biden Administration’s Office for Civil Rights delivered on its promise to propose an update to the HIPAA Security Rule. Our Health Care and Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy groups summarize key points from the new rule and...more
The Indiana Attorney General Office (OAG) filed a detailed complaint on December 23, 2024 (Complaint) which arose out of the following patient complaint: The OAG received a consumer complaint stating that the consumer had...more
In response to an alarming increase in the size and frequency of large-scale data breaches involving protected health information, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) dropped a bit of...more
‘Tis the season for holiday baking and the elves at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), have been diligently crafting their own holiday treat. On December 27,...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued an unpublished Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that strengthens the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule and, if...more
As the healthcare sector continues to be a top target for cyber criminals, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule (scheduled to be published in the Federal Register January 6). It...more
Last fall at the Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance Through HIPAA Security 2024 conference, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) promised that before year’s end, it would...more