The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services both recently released proposed rules regulating so-called information blocking, the practice of interfering with the exchange of electronic health information (EHI). Information blocking, a violation of HIPAA, occurs most commonly when a healthcare provider terminates its

In an era of online dialogue, healthcare providers still need to remain alert regarding their obligations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). As tempting as it may be to respond to patients’ criticisms and praise online, healthcare providers, as “covered entities” under HIPAA, should think twice before clicking “post.”

It’s

Rivkin Radler’s Jeffrey Rust and Eric Fader will be among the presenters at “The Business of Medicine,” a seminar to be held on Saturday, January 26, 2019, at the Convene conference center, 101 Park Avenue (at 41st Street), New York, New York. Neuro Alert Services LLC, a multistate provider of intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring services, designed

A Connecticut state court ruled in December that an obstetrics and gynecology practice must pay a former patient close to $2 million, the latest round in an 11-year saga in which the case was appealed to the state Supreme Court twice. The defendant medical practice was found to have breached the confidentiality of the plaintiff’s

On December 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on how the HIPAA rules, especially the Privacy Rule, could be modified to promote coordinated, value-based healthcare. A January 1 article in Health Law360 entitled “Health Care Policy Moves To

Advanced Care Hospitalists, PL (ACH), a Florida physician group, has learned that failing to enter into a proper business associate agreement (BAA) with a vendor can be a very costly mistake. As a result of that failure, ACH has paid a penalty of $500,000 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for

A December 4 article in Bloomberg Law’s Health Law & Business, “Florida Physicians Group Exposed 9,000 Patients’ Data to Web,” discussed a $500,000 HIPAA settlement entered into by Advanced Care Hospitalists (ACH), a Florida physician group, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Rivkin Radler’s Eric Fader was quoted

Allergy Associates of Hartford, P.C. has agreed to pay $125,000 to the Office for Civil Rights as a settlement for HIPAA violations. The physician practice has also agreed to implement a two-year corrective action plan to monitor its HIPAA compliance. The Resolution Agreement is available on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ website.

An article in Bloomberg Law’s Health Law & Business, “Allergy Practice Discloses Patient Info to Reporter, Pays $125,000,” discussed a recent HIPAA settlement arising out of a physician’s disclosure of a patient’s protected health information (PHI) to a television reporter. Rivkin Radler’s Eric Fader was quoted in the article.

The settlement was announced on November 26

As cybersecurity threats increase, the need for healthcare providers to conduct periodic security risk assessments as required by the HIPAA Security Rule has become more critical. To assist providers in this task, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and Office for Civil Rights