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
Over the course of the past few months, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), both of which are divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released its anticipated Final Rule last week. The Final Rule revises...more
As noted back in December 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued dramatic guidance (often called the Bulletin) that targets the use of so-called Internet “tracking...more
The FTC and OCR at HHS are continuing to scrutinize the use of tracking technologies that may reveal information about a person’s health or health status. Both agencies recently sent a letter to a reported 130 hospitals and...more
On July 20, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a joint letter sent to approximately 130 hospital systems...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced a settlement with a community hospital resolving an investigation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
On April 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) confirmed that four notifications of enforcement discretion regarding enforcement of the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance regarding covered entities’ and business associates’ use of tracking technologies (the Guidance). As discussed in greater detail...more
On December 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued new guidance to covered entities and business associates regarding website and application user data tracking and how...more
Covered Entities and Business Associates must comply with HIPAA in their use of online tracking technologies, including cookies, pixels or similar code. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 7 (February 22, 2021) - A Michigan woman is the first in the nation to be charged criminally with misappropriating money from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), the Department of Justice...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 2 (January 18, 2021) - Recovery audit contractors (RACs) may soon be auditing positron emission tomography (PET) for initial treatment strategy in oncologic conditions for compliance...more
On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued its Industry Report on the HIPAA audits it conducted in 2016 and 2017. OCR found widespread noncompliance with...more
Late last week, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to make significant revisions to the Health Insurance Portability and...more
On November 19, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced it had settled its 12th enforcement action in its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative (the...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently unveiled a new website with updated guidance and resources for mobile health app developers regarding the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and...more
On September 15, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced five new settlements relating to enforcement of HIPAA’s right of access rule. Under HIPAA, patients have the right to...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on April 2 that HHS is exercising its enforcement discretion to permit business associates to use and disclose protected health information (PHI) for public health...more
On March 3, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $100,000 settlement and corrective action plan with Steven A. Porter, M.D. to resolve potential...more
On January 28, 2020, the Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) addressed a federal court’s January 23rd invalidation of certain provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and...more
Google Health’s Partnerships Raise Privacy Concerns - Recently, Google has been at the center of privacy concerns due to its health- sharing collaborations with the University of Chicago Medical Center (the Medical Center)...more
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it has fined the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (TXHHS) $1.6 million for HIPAA violations. This is one of the few fines the OCR has levied against a state agency....more
Every year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) jointly sponsor a conference to “address the dynamic and challenging...more
Regulators, industry experts, and researchers provided insight into health privacy and security enforcement trends, emerging threats, and new tools at a recent conference focused on the Health Insurance Portability and...more
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