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Privacy Laws Office of Civil Rights Health Care Providers

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)

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

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

New Ohio Transparency Pricing Rules for Hospitals Comes with Limits to Targeted Advertising

Starting April 3, Ohio hospitals will have to navigate new requirements under House Bill 173. This law mandates greater transparency in healthcare pricing. It also includes rules for selling or targeted advertising related to...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

$1.5M Warby Parker Fine a Holdover; OCR Focuses On Men in Sports, Antisemitism, ‘Biological Truth’

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

Ropes & Gray LLP

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

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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

Stevens & Lee

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

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

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

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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

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)

Seven Years After Worldwide NotPetya Attacks, OCR Singles Out PA System, Collects Nearly $1M

Unleashed on June 27, 2017, NotPetya caused an estimated $10 billion in damages globally, among the costliest ransomware attacks in history. In 2018, the Trump administration—in tandem with the British government—blamed...more

BakerHostetler

Northern District of Texas Flashes the ‘Blue Lights’ on OCR’s Pixel Guidance

BakerHostetler on

On June 20, 2024, the Northern District of Texas issued its final order in American Hospital Association, et al. v. Becerra, et al. (AHA), granting the plaintiffs’ (the American Hospital Association, two Texas health systems...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

An inside view of HIPAA enforcement

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

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

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Privacy Briefs: May 2024

Kaiser Permanente is notifying 13.4 million current and former members that their personal information may have been compromised when it was transmitted to tech giants Google, Microsoft Bing and X (formerly Twitter) when...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

[Event] Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy - July 15th - 18th, Charlotte, NC

Ideal for professionals with some compliance knowledge and experience, HCCA’s Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy offers practitioners a deeper understanding of effective compliance management in a healthcare setting. The...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

[Event] Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy - May 6th - 9th, San Antonio, TX

Ideal for professionals with some compliance knowledge and experience, HCCA’s Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy offers practitioners a deeper understanding of effective compliance management in a healthcare setting. The...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

‘An Unknown Individual Walked In’: Protecting Against Telehealth Risks Includes Non-IT Threats

The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and other government agencies aren’t just worried that providers understand—and mitigate—the privacy and security risks of telehealth. In fact, in 2022, the Government Accountability...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Dramatic Portrayal of Care During Early COVID-19 Costs Hospital $80K; OCR: No Prior Authorization

Report on Patient Privacy 23, no. 12 (December, 2023) Spring 2020 was a terrifying period in the annals of COVID-19, and New York was at the epicenter. COVID-19 cases, and deaths, already the highest in the nation, were...more

Verrill

HIPAA Privacy Rule Changes: Just in time for the New Year?

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In 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed changes to the Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that would significantly alter the current...more

Ankura

OCR Issues Guidance to Patients and Providers on Telehealth Privacy and Security

Ankura on

On October 18, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued an update1 containing two resource documents to help educate patients regarding privacy and security...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Privacy Briefs: November 2023

Report on Patient Privacy 23, no. 11 (November, 2023) The American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging federal lawmakers to intervene with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) so that hospitals and health systems can...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

11 Years After First Disclosure, L.A. Care Pays $1.3M, Says ‘Processing Errors’ Caused Breaches

Report on Patient Privacy 23, no. 10 (October, 2023) By 2016, it should have been clear to HIPAA covered entities that a security risk analysis—and corresponding risk management plan—were compliance basics. Yet, a new...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

[Event] Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy - October 16th - 19th, San Francisco, CA

Designed for professionals with some compliance knowledge and experience, HCCA’s Healthcare Privacy Compliance Academy is ideal for practitioners who want a deeper understanding of effective compliance management in a...more

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