HIPAA


Sentara in $2.175 Million Settlement for Improper HIPAA Breach Reporting
December 10, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | HIPAA | Home Health | Hospitals | Litigation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on November 27 that Sentara Healthcare agreed to pay $2.175 million to settle allegations that it failed to properly report a breach of protected health information. Sentara operates 12 acute care hospitals and provides other types of care at more than

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Fader Gives Perspective on HIPAA Enforcement for Healthcare Risk Management
December 4, 2019 | Rivkin Rounds Staff | Cybersecurity | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Legislation and Public Policy | Litigation

Eric Fader contributed to Healthcare Risk Management’s HIPAA Regulatory Alert, which appeared in the publication’s December 2019 issue. The Alert outlines the best practices that will help avoid common HIPAA violations. Eric discusses the events that might trigger a regulatory action and the kinds of violations that may affect the severity of the penalties and fines.

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Another HIPAA Penalty: $1.6 Million for Breach of ePHI
November 12, 2019 | Ada Janocinska | Cybersecurity | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Litigation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on November 7 that it imposed a $1.6 million monetary penalty against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The Commission operates several health and public need facilities and also administers many

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HHS Releases Updated HIPAA Risk Assessment Tool
November 8, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Cybersecurity | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a new version of its security risk assessment (SRA) tool that helps smaller healthcare providers conduct and document risk assessments, as required by the HIPAA Security Rule. The update incorporates new features to make the tool more user-friendly.

The SRA tool, available on HHS’s

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NY Hospital Pays $3 Million HIPAA Settlement
November 6, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Litigation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on November 5 that the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) agreed to pay $3 million to settle violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. URMC is one of the largest health systems in New York State, with more than

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Florida Hospital Fined $2.15 Million for Theft and Sale of Records
October 24, 2019 | Ada Janocinska | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Litigation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on October 23 that Jackson Health System (JHS) in Miami has received a civil money penalty of $2,154,000 for violations of HIPAA’s Security and Breach Notification Rules. OCR Director Roger Severino said, “OCR’s investigation revealed a HIPAA compliance program that had

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Yelp Responses Lead to HIPAA Settlement
October 4, 2019 | Ada Janocinska | HIPAA | Litigation

A recent settlement between a Texas dental practice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) demonstrates that healthcare providers must think twice before sharing any information on social media that can be linked to a patient.

OCR investigated Elite Dental Associates of Dallas after receiving a patient complaint

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HHS Issues Limited HIPAA Waivers in Hurricane Areas
September 12, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Legislation and Public Policy

As it had done for previous hurricanes, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a HIPAA Bulletin providing for a limited waiver of HIPAA sanctions and penalties for covered entities in Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Such waivers are primarily intended

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HIPAA Access Violation Results in Settlement
September 10, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Litigation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on September 9 that Bayfront Health St. Petersburg (Bayfront), a 480-bed Florida hospital, has paid HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) $85,000 to settle a potential violation of HIPAA’s right of access provisions. Bayfront’s Resolution Agreement with HHS also provided for the company to enter into a one-year

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Study Reveals Widespread HIPAA Access Violations
August 22, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals

A recent study of 51 healthcare providers and 3,003 institutions, published last week on the medRXiv website, revealed widespread noncompliance with HIPAA requirements regarding patients’ right of access to their own medical records. The study was conducted on behalf of Ciitizen Corporation, a medical records storage platform for patients.

The researchers sent record requests to

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