The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced another settlement for alleged violations of HIPAA. OCR investigated BayCare Health System, which serves central Florida, after a...more
7/3/2025
/ Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
HIPAA Violations ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Settlement
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on December 3 that it imposed a $1.19 million penalty on Gulf Coast Pain Consultants, a pain management practice in Florida, following...more
12/5/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Penalties ,
PHI ,
Risk Management ,
Security Breach ,
Security Rule ,
Unauthorized Access
On October 20, 2024, several significant consumer protection laws will go into effect, directly affecting healthcare providers throughout New York State. Introduced through the FY 2025 Executive Budget, these new laws reshape...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that it ordered American Medical Response (AMR) to pay a civil monetary penalty of $115,200 for failing to comply with the...more
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently signed a new bill into law that prohibits healthcare providers from reporting patients’ medical debt to credit rating agencies. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2024. In addition,...more
Community Health Network, Inc., based in Indianapolis, Indiana, has paid $345 million to settle alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA). The lawsuit was initiated through a whistleblower complaint that was filed in...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a settlement with a Missouri neurosurgeon and his fiancée regarding alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The parties agreed...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a favorable Advisory Opinion on a hospital arrangement in which the hospital was using its employed nurse practitioners to...more
Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Services recently paid $875,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations after a cyberattack resulted in the unauthorized access of its patients’ protected health information. A...more
7/19/2022
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Fines ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Violations ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Training
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a favorable Advisory Opinion on an arrangement that would allow a hospital to offer free items and services to patients who...more
In a recent advisory opinion, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluded that certain investments by a health system, manager and physicians in an ambulatory surgery center...more
In a recent advisory opinion, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined not to impose sanctions under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) on a drug manufacturer program...more
On January 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has amended the Declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) to expand the types of providers that...more
The most recent COVID-19 relief bill that was signed into law in December includes $250 million in new funding for the federal COVID-19 Telehealth Program, previously discussed here. The program was originally established in...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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently warned healthcare providers and organizations about a new phishing scam that targets HIPAA Compliance Officers. Postcards are being...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic since mid-March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) worked quickly to issue emergency guidance that allowed temporary expansion of payment for telehealth services and...more
8/5/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Care ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Telecommunications ,
Telehealth
On June 2, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued Health Advisory #18 which recommends that all New Yorkers receive testing for COVID-19 regardless of whether or not they present symptoms or are...more
When the President has declared a national emergency under authorizing legislation, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to grant waivers to certain prohibitions under the Social...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) have finalized two highly anticipated rules that are intended to give patients “unprecedented...more