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Privacy Laws Office of Civil Rights Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Warner Norcross + Judd

Federal Court Vacates HIPAA Rule on Reproductive Health Care Privacy

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Last year, the federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) modified the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to strengthen protections for reproductive health care information (the “2024 Rule”)....more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

From $5,000 to $800,000: Days Apart, OCR Security Settlements Show Puzzling Math

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Former OCR Director Fontes Rainer Reflects On ‘Imperfect’ RSP Law, Urges Final Security Reg

In October, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) fined Providence Medical Institute (PMI) $240,000, an amount that reflected a 20% discount for having “recognized security practices” (RSPs) in place. But many more covered...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

OCR Loses Staff, Faces Move to New ‘Enforcement’ Office; Will HIPAA Focus, Independence Suffer?

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

Proskauer on Privacy

Proskauer on Privacy: 2024 Reflections & 2025 Predictions

Proskauer on Privacy on

2024 marked another significant year for privacy law, with new state legislation and high-stakes litigation reshaping the landscape. Legal battles over tracking technologies, biometric data, and children’s privacy...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

We’ll Take the Fine: OCR’s ‘Unwarranted,’ Costly Demands Prompted Hospital’s $538K Payment

The saga that led Children’s Hospital Colorado to accept a fine of more than $500,000 imposed by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began on July 11, 2017, when a physician’s email account containing details on 3,300...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Healthcare Privacy

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On April 22, 2024, the Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy Final Rule. The final rule limits the sharing of protected health...more

McDermott Will & Emery

ASTP Adopts New Protecting Care Access Exception

McDermott Will & Emery on

On December 17, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP) published the Health Data,...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

Biden Administration Finalizes Its Last Changes To Health Data Interoperability and Information Blocking Regulations

Ropes & Gray LLP on

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

Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the...

HHS Office for Civil Rights Proposes Measures to Strengthen Cybersecurity in Health Care Under HIPAA

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed significant modifications to the HIPAA Security Rule and the HITECH Act in an attempt to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic protected health...more

Stevens & Lee

Compliance Deadline Imminent: HIPAA Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy

Stevens & Lee on

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Disclosure of Full Record to Employer Results in $35K Fine, Broad CAP; Echoes of 2017 HIV Case

It’s not immediately obvious why someone would want to disclose a health care test result as part of a job application. But one such request spurred a Pennsylvania entity to provide a lot more than that: it sent her whole...more

Brooks Pierce

OIG Recommends Changes to HIPAA Audit Program to Strengthen Data Protections, Implications for Regulated Entities

Brooks Pierce on

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is required by law to perform periodic audits of covered entities and business associates to ensure their compliance with HIPAA Security Rule...more

Holland & Knight LLP

HIPAA Tidings: A Look at OCR's Recent Enforcement Actions

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Recognized Security Practices ‘Saved’ Covered Entity $60K of $300K Fine, But Which Ones Remain a Mystery

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Privacy Briefs: November 2024

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

2nd Settlement Triggered by 2017 Ransomware Attack Costs WA Practice $100K; ‘Not a Breach’

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

Ankura

Navigating the Fallout: Essential Insights for Healthcare Companies in Light of the Change Healthcare Cyber Breach

Ankura on

The cyber breach at Change Healthcare in 2024 stands out as one of the most significant cyber-attacks in recent memory. Its repercussions extend far beyond immediate industry disruptions, resonating deeply in regulatory...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

HHS Abandons Appeal in Public Website Pixel Case, But CEs and BAs Should Expect Continued Scrutiny

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Privacy Briefs: August 2024

On July 19, Change Healthcare Ince. filed a breach report with HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concerning its mammoth ransomware attack and breach. The organization’s breach report to OCR identifies just 500 individuals as...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

New Reproductive Health Care Privacy Final Rule: Key Compliance Steps and Dates

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and subsequent state abortion bans, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

OCR: Rule Halts Disclosures Under ‘Presumption of Lawfulness,’ Shares Model Attestation Form

Attestations are at the heart of permissible disclosures under the HHS Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) new reproductive health privacy rule—and OCR wants covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BA) to use them now. The...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Federal Court Invalidates Key Part of HHS OCR Bulletin Regarding Application of HIPAA to Online Tracking Technologies

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In a consequential decision for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-regulated entities, on June 20, 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled in American Hospital Association...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Healthcare Regulatory Check-up Newsletter | April 2024 Recap

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This issue of McDermott’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for April 2024. We discuss several US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency actions, including the Calendar Year (CY) 2025...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

‘I Will Not Rest’; ‘I Am All In’: Remarkable Breach Hearing Sees Pledges by UHG CEO, Sen. Wyden

United Healthcare Group (UHG) CEO Andrew Witty was in a board meeting on Feb. 21 when officials interrupted with the news that Change Healthcare—a clearinghouse UHG subsidiary Optum had purchased for $1.3 billion in October...more

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