The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on June 18, 2025, issued an order vacating the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, published on April 26, 2024, which amended the Health...more
6/20/2025
/ Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Judicial Review ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Privacy Laws ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Statutory Authority ,
Vacated
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 21, 2025, a significant change to the terms and conditions governing federal funding (the Notice) applicable to all NIH grants, cooperative agreements and other...more
4/25/2025
/ ADEA ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Government Agencies ,
Grants ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Title IX
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that strengthens the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which, if...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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued an unpublished Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that strengthens the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule and, if...more
1/2/2025
/ Business Associates ,
Comment Period ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
NPRM ,
OCR
Access to quality healthcare services has long been a priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) this agency has, since at least 2001, sought to provide...more
12/18/2024
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Age Discrimination ,
Biden Administration ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data-Sharing ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
OCR ,
Patient Access ,
PHI ,
Private Right of Action ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Title IV ,
Title IX
In addition to holiday celebrations, the month of December typically ushers in a final round of enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR), and 2024 is no...more
12/4/2024
/ Business Associates ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
NIST ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Privacy Laws ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Security and Privacy Controls
New York hospitals have less than a year to dust off their Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance programs and update them to comply with more stringent and detailed state regulations. Last...more
11/22/2024
/ Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
New Regulations ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
State Health Departments
President Ronald Reagan famously quipped, "I think you all know that I've always felt that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help."1 At an Oct. 23-24, 2024,...more
10/31/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Internet of Things ,
Medical Devices ,
NIST ,
OCR ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Technical Conference
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has, as part of its mandate, the responsibility to enforce the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule....more
5/14/2024
/ Audits ,
Business Associates ,
Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
HITECH Act ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Assessment ,
Web Tracking
In the midst of an industry reeling from the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a series of final rules requiring...more
"Informed consent" has been described as "a bedrock principle of healthcare in a free society," and if a "patient is denied the ability to exercise or even consider informed consent, the patient's personal liberty suffers."1...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued updated guidance on March 18, 2024 regarding the use of online tracking technologies by entities and business associates covered by the...more
3/19/2024
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Tracking Systems ,
Web Tracking ,
Websites
Healthcare compliance risks exist even when a company takes steps to structure its business activities to follow the government's own statements. A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have started a new effort to educate the public about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)....more
Hospitals care about patient privacy, but they also have to connect with the public. In the real world, people mostly connect online. Having a fully functional online presence often requires help from third parties. ...more
11/8/2023
/ American Hospital Association ,
Business Associates ,
Class Action ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Tracking Systems ,
Web Tracking
Providing care via electronic communication when patients and providers are in separate locations, known as telemedicine or telehealth, has been possible for decades. The exigent circumstances sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic...more
For years, patients and healthcare companies have been wrestling with privacy issues relating to cookies, pixels and other tracking technologies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Civil Rights...more
12/5/2022
/ Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Tracking Systems ,
Web Tracking
Telehealth has been around for decades, but restrictive reimbursement rules kept it out of widespread use for many treatment needs. Then along came the COVID-19 pandemic and everything changed rapidly. Suddenly, due to the...more
10/5/2022
/ Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
GAO ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Information Reports ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
OCR ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
An amendment to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was signed into law on Jan. 5, 2021, directing U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider "recognized security practices"...more
8/31/2021
/ Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HITECH Act ,
Incident Response Plans ,
New Legislation ,
NIST ,
PHI
To date, there has been little consistency in how Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements are enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the amount of settlements...more
2/5/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HITECH Act ,
Medicare ,
PHI ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law ,
WA Supreme Court
On Jan. 5, 2021, the President signed into law H.R. 7898, which provides even more incentive for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-covered entities and business associates to develop robust security...more
Privacy revisions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) may be on the horizon, with some potential changes that could benefit both patients and the healthcare industry. Other changes, if...more
12/11/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
EHR ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medical Records ,
NPRM ,
OCR ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Proposed Rules ,
Right of Access
On Nov. 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and proposed regulatory changes that would, effectively, cause many federal healthcare regulations to disappear...more
Healthcare providers face a dilemma when patients post complaints or make other statements on social media. Just because a patient has made certain information public does not mean that the provider can also post protected...more
10/9/2019
/ Corporate Fines ,
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 ,
Social Networks ,
Yelp
The federal Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights, which enforces HIPAA, maintains a website with very helpful "frequently asked questions" (FAQs) regarding the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule....more
4/23/2019
/ App Developers ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
EHR ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Guidance ,
OCR