Almost as surely as summer follows spring, lawsuits follow breaches of protected health information. Here’s a roundup of recent HIPAA breach lawsuits and settlements. Lawsuits Increasing Following HIPAA Breaches - Facts and Figures The law firm BakerHostetler published its annual Data Security Incident Response Report based on findings from 1,270 data security incidents managed by the firm in 2021. Highlights included: 23% [...]
In Chile, Law 20,584 provides data privacy rights for patients. Law 20,584, the equivalent to HIPAA, was passed in 2012. The law requires that all information contained in patient files or documentation of medical treatments be treated as sensitive data. The law also requires that healthcare professionals maintain the confidentiality of patient data. “HIPAA Chile” changes are on the horizon. In September, [...]
An ophthalmology EMR solution, Eye Care Leaders, announced that it had been breached. The EMR first discovered the incident in December 2021. Upon investigation into the incident, it was found that at least eight eye care providers were impacted, affecting upwards of 342,000 patients. Providers affected by the EMR breach were notified of the incident on March 1, 2022, so that they may take steps to [...]
When looking into what to offer to increase your revenue, HIPAA is a good place to start. Your MSP’s service offerings should reflect the needs of the largest sector of the economy, healthcare. The best way to increase MSP revenue services is by offering HIPAA compliance services to your clients. What is HIPAA and How Can You Help Your Clients Comply? HIPAA [...]
In March of 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022. The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 wears many hats. The law reauthorizes the Anti-Violence Against Women Act, increases defense spending, provides aid to Ukraine, and funds the White House internship program, allowing interns to be paid for the first time. One of the less big-ticket - but by no [...]
One main focus of HIPAA regulations is ensuring the privacy of the protected health information (PHI) of patients. Most people immediately think about the protection and security of PHI in physical or electronic (ePHI) formats, but what about when PHI is verbalized? Does talking about a patient violate HIPAA? If so, what precautions do healthcare providers need to take to avoid breaching [...]
Each month, we review healthcare breaches to determine the leading cause and how the incidents could have been prevented. We do so by examining the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) online breach portal. The OCR publicly posts healthcare breaches that affected 500 or more patients to ensure that all affected patients know their information could have been potentially compromised. A shower of [...]
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has added its two cents to the federal budget the President proposes and Congress approves each year. OCR has proposed that its budget for 2023 be increased by 55%, to a total of $60.2 million. What does OCR want to use the money for? A 64% increase in staffing. Which [...]
As incidents of cybercrime increase, forward-thinking healthcare organizations and the companies that support them are looking for ways to minimize the risk of becoming a victim of these illegal activities. One solution that has become more popular is third-party assurance and advisory services such as SOC 2®. What does SOC 2 really mean, what is involved in achieving this status, what is [...]
It’s sometimes hard to believe that the acronym GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) has been around for less than 20 years. Developed as a response to the financial shenanigans discovered when the dot.com bubble burst, GRC has evolved into an integrated collection of capabilities that enable an organization to achieve objectives reliably, address uncertainty, and act with integrity. Today GRC has expanded far [...]
