OCR Settles Five Privacy Rule Violations
In September of 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it settled HIPAA Privacy Rule right of access violations [...]
When Can You Disclose PHI Without Authorization? Refusal to Disclose COVID Data Results in Nurse Firing
A nurse at Clinton County Health Department claims she was recently fired for refusing to disclose the names and addresses of patients that had tested [...]
Can Universities Reveal News of Coronavirus Infections?
College students’ return to campus in the fall of 2020 has been a popular news item. At a number of schools, students have been disciplined, and in [...]
Are Search Engines Compromising PHI Security?
It was recently discovered that advancements in search engine capability may pose a risk to PHI security. Researchers from American College of Radiology (ACR), Radiological Society of [...]
Improving Rural and Telehealth Access
There has been much discussion about the permanent expansion of access to telehealth beyond the coronavirus pandemic. For now, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has extended [...]
HIPAA and Mask Inquires: Is it a HIPAA Violation?
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have struggled to come up with plans on how they can safely reopen. This has been of particular concern in [...]
What is TCPA Cell Phone Consent?
Healthcare-related cell phone calls by providers to patients are regulated by two laws. One of these is HIPAA. HIPAA governs the content of what PHI can [...]
HHS Amends Substance Abuse Records Confidentiality Rules
Recently, the 42 CFR Part 2 regulations, which serve to protect substance abuse disorder patient records, were revised. Their revised regulation facilitates better coordination of care in response to [...]
Failure to Deidentify PHI Exposed Hundreds of Patients
On April 9 students from the University of Delaware contacted the Delaware Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS) regarding a research project. The students requested demographic [...]
What Happens to HIPAA Lawsuits?
HIPAA lawsuits - litigation involving a plaintiff claiming violation of a HIPAA regulation - usually do not get very far, as the plaintiffs in a data breach lawsuit against [...]
