On January 20, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded 2021 guidelines that previously designated hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities as “protected areas” and limited immigration enforcement...more
3/12/2025
/ Data Privacy ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Enforcement ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Personal Data ,
PHI ,
Privacy Laws ,
State Privacy Laws
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the end of a years-long shortage of semaglutide injection products — a popular glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) weight loss and diabetes medication. As a result,...more
2/27/2025
/ Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Telehealth
As of December 23, health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses (covered entities) and their business associates (collectively, regulated entities) must comply with new reproductive health care privacy...more
12/20/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Texas ,
Trump Administration
In a significant move toward regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in health care, Assembly Bill (AB) 3030 will require health facilities, clinics, and physician practices in California to provide disclaimers to patients...more
On September 28, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 3129. The proposed law sought to regulate health care transactions involving private equity and hedge funds. The veto avoids overlapping and...more
On June 20, a federal district court in Texas ruled that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) exceeded its authority under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
8/22/2024
/ American Hospital Association et al v Becerra Secretary Of Health And Human Services et al ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Violations ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Serious Health Conditions ,
Tracking Systems
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
6/19/2024
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Compliance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
Investigations ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Popular
Change Healthcare, an affiliate of Optum and UnitedHealth Group, processes more than 15 billion health care transactions annually and touches one of every three patient records. On February 21, Change disconnected its...more
3/15/2024
/ American Medical Association ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Insurance Industry ,
Medicare Part B ,
Payment Systems ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Ransomware
In Advisory Opinion No. 23-04, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) analyzed certain proposed changes to the functionality of a health care technology company’s online...more
8/15/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Algorithms ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Federal Health Care Programs (FHCP) ,
Fees ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
OIG
Telehealth experienced massive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, due in no small part to various regulatory and reimbursement policies that federal agencies implemented following a declaration by the US Department of...more
6/6/2023
/ CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reimbursements ,
SAMHSA ,
Telehealth
Most violations of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are addressed through administrative enforcement action. But, in some circumstances of improper conduct affecting the privacy or security of...more
The recently unveiled California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework (the Framework) creates a new regulatory and governance structure to promote the exchange of health information between health care providers...more
9/9/2022
/ California ,
Data Privacy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Governance Standards ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
Medi-Cal ,
PHI ,
Physicians ,
Policies and Procedures
On July 20, 2022, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert cautioning physicians and other health care practitioners to use “heightened scrutiny” when entering into telemedicine arrangements that...more
8/1/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare Fraud ,
OIG ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently imposed a $50,000 civil monetary penalty on a dental practice that disclosed patient-identifying information in response to a negative online review. The case is a reminder that...more
8/1/2022
/ Business Development ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
Online Reviews ,
PHI ,
Risk Management ,
Social Media ,
Websites
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) declaration that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency (PHE) will continue through July 15, 2022, and is expected to be renewed again through October 13, 2022....more
6/23/2022
/ California ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
CMIA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Public Health Service Act
Hospitals and Other Providers Should Make Sure Any Items or Services of Value That They Provide to Their Referring Physicians To Alleviate Burnout Comply With the Stark Law -
Amidst the ongoing labor market shortages and...more
4/27/2022
/ American Medical Association ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Shortage ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Remuneration ,
Stark Law ,
Work-Induced Stress