On April 22, 2024, the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a final rule enhancing privacy protections relating to reproductive health care. Specifically, the final rule...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
HIPAA privacy rules do not prevent employers and businesses from asking employees and visitors about their COVID-19 vaccination status, the government recently reiterated. In guidance issued on September 30, 2021, the U.S....more
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...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
Elite Dental Associates (Elite), located in Dallas, Texas has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for $10,000....more
This past Friday, the Office of Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a formal Request for Information on Modifying HIPAA Rules to Improve Coordinated Care. The RFI’s publication...more
On this blog, we have discussed the criticality of risk analyses – the assessment required by the Security Rule of the “risks and vulnerabilities” that an organization faces with respect to all of its electronic protected...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights recently posted guidance clarifying that a business associate such as an information technology vendor generally may not block or terminate access by a...more
On October 7, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published guidance to assist cloud service providers (CSPs) and their customers with HIPAA compliance. As discussed below,...more
On February 25, 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released a set of FAQs directed at healthcare providers and plans that are required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule (the Privacy Rule). The guidance emphasizes that...more
On February 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had entered into an agreement with Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy, Inc. (CPT), a physical...more
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191 and the regulations promulgated thereunder (“HIPAA”) should be now well-known to health care providers and health plans. Under HIPAA’s...more
For only the second time in its history, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has imposed a civil money penalty (CMP) on a covered entity for allegedly violating the HIPAA...more
Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (HHS OCR) have recently selected a vendor to conduct the second wave of HIPAA audits. These so-called "Phase 2 Audits" are set to commence...more
On September 2, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced that Cancer Care Group, P.C. (CCG), a physician practice located in Indiana, agreed to pay $750,000 as part of a settlement to resolve...more
A tip from a local Denver news outlet lead to a compliance review, investigation and ultimately a resolution agreement between the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and Denver-based...more
As we previously reported, President Obama has made it a priority to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”). Last week, more than eight months after the issuance of a advance notice of...more
The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced a $400,000 settlement with Idaho State University (ISU) following a lengthy investigation of the privacy and security practices at ISU outpatient clinics. In addition to...more
On January 25, 2013, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule (Final Rule) containing modifications to the privacy standards (Privacy Rule), security...more
As we have reported in this blog, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently released final regulations containing modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and...more
In this information technology era, it is little wonder that the Obama Administration has made enforcement of data security and privacy protections a top priority. The enforcement emphasis reflects public opinion favoring...more
On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published final regulations that modify the Privacy, Security, Enforcement and Breach Notification Rules issued pursuant to the Health Insurance...more
The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published today the much anticipated final omnibus rule implementing the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health...more