From OCR to AI The Future of Media and Image Analysis in eDiscovery
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
2022 DSIR Deeper Dive: OCR’s Right of Access Initiative
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
A single incident that may have started as a personal vendetta or an extortion threat seven years ago has cost a Florida health care system $800,000, and comes on the heels of an unrelated breach suffered by a different...more
Today, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of the Office of Inspector General and Office of General Counsel, one of just a dozen or so agencies reporting directly to the secretary....more
On March 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a civil money penalty (“CMP”) of $200,000 against Oregon Health & Science University (“OHSU”) for failing to...more
Nearly six years to the day that Warby Parker reported a breach affecting nearly 200,000 individuals, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed a $1.5 million fine on the eyewear giant. Investigated by OCR under the Biden...more
In December 2024, the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ASTP/ONC”) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published two...more
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
Around the corner is the Dec. 23 deadline to have your organization bring its HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices into compliance with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights Final Rule modifying...more
We just want to provide a friendly reminder that, before key staff depart for the holidays, HIPAA covered entities and business associates should finalize their compliance with the 2024 HIPAA amendments related to...more
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
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), which enforces HIPAA, recently announced a new enforcement initiative, the Risk Analysis Initiative, in conjunction with OCR’s seventh...more
Covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs) may receive a “discount” for having recognized security practices (RSPs) in place when the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) calculates financial penalties for Security...more
Change Healthcare Inc. has amended its initial breach report to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to state that 100 million individuals were impacted by its mammoth ransomware attack and breach. However, as of Oct. 24,...more
On October 31, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $500,000 settlement with Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota (“PSA”) concerning potential...more
A business associate agreement (BAA) is a written contract between a covered entity (CE) and a business associate (BA) that—among other requirements—(1) establishes the permitted and required uses and disclosures of protected...more
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
Ransomware attacks are a growing threat in the health care sector due to the value of personal health information (PHI). In addition to being expensive, these attacks can cripple health care operations, delay patient care,...more
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) Director Melanie Fontes Rainer announced that OCR will resume auditing Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”)...more
Let’s review for a moment. It’s not a HIPAA violation to be a victim of ransomware. It’s not a HIPAA violation to pay a ransom. It’s up to the covered entity (CE) to determine if a security or privacy incident is a...more
In April 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized revised regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new, final Section 1557 regulations (2024...more
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has abandoned its appeal of a federal judge’s ruling overturning OCR’s guidance prohibiting covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs) from using the web-tracking technologies...more
Address the latest updates & emerging trends in privacy - Join us this October for HCCA's virtual event dedicated to privacy compliance. This virtual event provides first-hand insights from government agencies regarding...more
On July 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office For Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $950,000 settlement with Heritage Valley Health System (“Heritage Valley”) and a three-year Corrective...more
The expansion of artificial intelligence (“AI”) applications in healthcare (“Healthcare AI”) has made recent headlines, from the transformation of clinical diagnostics with increased accuracy, to use of personalized medicine...more
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
While many healthcare providers are generally aware of their obligations under HIPAA, most do not have a clear sense of what happens if they fail to meet these obligations. At best, most probably are familiar with headlines...more