HIPAANews
Patrick Kennedy is a highly accomplished journalist and editor with nearly two decades of experience in the field. With expertise in writing and editing content, Patrick has made significant contributions to various publications and organizations. Over the course of his career, Patrick has successfully managed teams of writers, overseeing the production of high-quality content and ensuring its adherence to professional standards. His exceptional leadership skills, combined with his deep understanding of journalistic principles, have allowed him to create cohesive and engaging narratives that resonate with readers. A notable area of specialization for Patrick lies in compliance, particularly in relation to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). He has authored numerous articles delving into the complexities of compliance and its implications for various industries. Patrick's comprehensive understanding of HIPAA regulations has positioned him as a go-to expert, sought after for his insights and expertise in this field.
Patrick's bachelors degree is from the University of Limerick and his master's degree in journalism is from Dublin City University. You can contact Patrick through his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkkennedy/
by Patrick Kennedy | May 27, 2017 | HIPAA News
The Trump administration has revealed its 2018 fiscal budget with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) both facing major cuts to their operational...
by Patrick Kennedy | May 25, 2017 | HIPAA News
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center Inc., has paid OCR $387,200 to resolve potential HIPAA violations identified during an OCR investigation of a complaint about a disclosure of PHI without permission. In September 2014, OCR was informed of a potential privacy...
by Patrick Kennedy | May 16, 2017 | HIPAA News
A $2.4y m settlement has been agreed by Memorial Hermann Health System with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to settle potential HIPAA Privacy Rule violations The settlement arises from an impermissible disclosure on an...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 26, 2017 | HIPAA News
A class action lawsuit has been filed following an allegation claiming that telemedicine company MDLive violated the privacy of patients by releasing sensitive medical information to a third party without informing, or obtaining consent from, subscribednpatients. App...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 25, 2017 | HIPAA News
CardioNet, a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias, has agreed a $2.5 million settlement to resolve potential HIPAA violations. Compensation settlements have, in the past been,...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 23, 2017 | HIPAA News
Patient records held by the New York Organ Donor Network must be turned over to a plaintiff, and that the request cannot be denied based on HIPAA, following a ruling made by a New York Supreme Court Judge. Patrick McMahon claims he was removed from his role of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 15, 2017 | HIPAA News
A legal action has been taken action against a Denver, CO-based federally-qualified health center (FQHC), by Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for security management process failures that contributed to the organization...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 8, 2017 | HIPAA News
Indications are that 2017 will be another record breaking year for healthcare data violations. Results for the first quarter of 2017 show data breaches have risen, with rises in theft incidents, hacks and unauthorized disclosures. Last year was a very bad year for...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 30, 2017 | HIPAA News
The Kentucky-based 6-hospital health organization Med Center Health has reported a data violation affecting around 160,000 patients. Med Center Health believes a former staff member may have stolen patients’ protected health information (PHI) prior to leaving their...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 28, 2017 | HIPAA News
Following the appointment of Roger Severino as head of OCR many human rights organizations have expressed concern over due to the views he views regarding transgender people and same-sex marriages. Mr Severino has written a number of reports in which he has expressed...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 27, 2017 | HIPAA News
Former civil rights trial attorney Roger Severino has been appointed by The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has a new leader by The Trump Administration. Mr Severino will lead the HIPAA enforcement efforts of the Office for Civil...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 21, 2017 | HIPAA News
A medical physician at the Dr. O Medical and Wellness Center in San Antonio, Texas allegedly retaliated against a patient by posting a recorded video of the person wearing only underwear on Facebook and YouTube. The actions of the physician, which appear to be a clear...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 6, 2017 | HIPAA News
With Phase 2 of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights HIPAA compliance audits now well underway, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has updated its HIPAA audit readiness toolkit. Late last year, covered bodies...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 4, 2017 | HIPAA News
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows patients to access a copy of their medical records in electronic or paper form. In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services released a series of videos and documentation to outline...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 25, 2017 | HIPAA News
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) has agreed to pay a $1.1 million fine for failing to protect the electronic protected health information of almost 690,000 plan members. The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs made the announcement of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 20, 2017 | HIPAA News
The official deadline for reporting 2016 healthcare data breaches which impacted fewer than 500 people is March 1, 2017. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Breach Notification Rule states that all covered bodies must report breaches of unsecured...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 19, 2017 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), equaling last year’s record HIPAA settlement with Advocate Health, announced that a $5.5 million settlement had been agreed with Florida-based Memorial Healthcare Systems to settle potential...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 15, 2017 | HIPAA News
In January 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights issued a communication to covered entities in relation to the late reporting of data breaches following the announcement of a settlement with Chicago-based healthcare network...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 5, 2017 | HIPAA News
The Children’s Medical Center of Dallas has paid a civil monetary penalty of $3.2 million to resolve multiple HIPAA violations spanning several years. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) made the announcement revealing the fine...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 28, 2017 | HIPAA News
Covenant HealthCare has advised more than 6,000 patients that their electronic medical records were inappropriately accessed by one of its staff members. The improper access was identified during a November 2016 review of EMR access logs. The audit revealed an unusual...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 20, 2017 | HIPAA News
The first HIPAA settlement of 2017 has been announced by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This is also the first settlement to date specifically based on an unnecessary delay to breach notification after the exposure of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 20, 2017 | HIPAA News
MAPFRE Life Assurance Company of Puerto Rico – A subsidiary of MAPFRE S.A., of Spain – has agreed a $2.2 million settlement, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, to resolve potential noncompliance with the Health Insurance...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 20, 2017 | HIPAA News
During her campaign to become Republican state senator for Virginia in 2015, Henrico County physician Siobhan Dunnavant, M.D., impermissably used patients’ contact information – classed as protected health information under HIPAA Rules – to garner donations from...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 13, 2017 | HIPAA News
Over the past two weeks, the number of organizations that have had their MongoDB databases accessed, copied, and deleted has been on the rise. Ethical Hacker Victor Gevers found in late December that many MondoDB databases had been left unsecured and were freely...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 25, 2016 | HIPAA News
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) has agreed to a $650,000 settlement with The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) . The settlement resolves HIPAA breaches that contributed to the university suffering a malware...
by Patrick Kennedy | Oct 22, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Health Information Trust Alliance and the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) and t(HITRUST) have revealed a new collaboration. The aim is to lessen – and hopefully completely prevent – redundant assessments and their associated...
by Patrick Kennedy | Oct 20, 2016 | HIPAA News
St. Joseph Health (SJH) has agreed, with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules for the sum of $2.14 million. SJH is required to pay the figure to OCR and adopt a...
by Patrick Kennedy | Oct 12, 2016 | HIPAA Advice, HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued updated guidance on HIPAA and healthcare cloud computing to help covered bodies use the cloud without risking a HIPAA breach. The main emphasis of the guidance is the use of cloud service providers (CSPs). Cloud...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 20, 2016 | HIPAA News
Following the violation of the privacy of patients WakeMed Health and Hospitals has been ordered to pay a fine of $70,000 by a North Carolina Bankruptcy Court. The violations happened when submitting proofs of claim to the bankruptcy court. Documents were filed...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 8, 2016 | HIPAA News
OCR normally to settles HIPAA compliance issues through voluntary compliance and non-punitive means, although financial penalties are now becoming more the norm. If OCR investigators find HIPAA violations, financial penalties may be issued. Fines of up to $1.5 million...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 30, 2016 | HIPAA News
The investigation into the 2015 Bizmatics data breach by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has closed. The breach, which was identified in late 2015, affected many of the company’s clients. It was found that the malware was...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 20, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has revealed it will be increasing the amount of investigations of small PHI breaches with immediate effect. violations impacting less than 500 individuals will now be subjected to tighter...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 16, 2016 | HIPAA News
A major number of cases of abuse of nursing home and assisted living center residents have been seen recently. The cases have seen the taking of degrading and demeaning photographs and videos of residents by employees of nursing centers, and sharing the photos and...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 16, 2016 | HIPAA News
In 2016, WTHR 13 carried out an investigation into the improper disposal of sensitive data by pharmacies. The investigation was initiated following a theft that took place at the home of an Indiana resident. A drug addict targeted the person knowing that she had pain...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 10, 2016 | HIPAA News
A former staff member of Tampa General Hospital has been convicted of wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information and wire fraud. Shanakia Benton was accused of illegally obtaining the protected health information of patients during the time...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 27, 2016 | Cybersecurity
In a recent report released by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, a third of hospitals do not have sufficient HIPAA-compliant EHR contingency plans in place, although the majority are “largely addressing” HIPAA requirements for...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 23, 2016 | HIPAA News
Following the 2.7 million HIPAA breach settlement with Oregon Health & Science University is news of yet another multi-million-dollar settlement with another university. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights revealed two days ago...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 16, 2016 | HIPAA News
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has agreed to settle a case with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights which arose from two data breaches suffered in 2013. A penalty of $2.7 million will be paid by OHSU to settle alleged...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 13, 2016 | HIPAA News
Cyberattacks on healthcare groups are now commonplace and, as long as it is profitable for hackers to attack healthcare organizations, the cyberattacks will continue. Given the number of healthcare data violations now being reported, it is evident that the healthcare...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 1, 2016 | HIPAA News
Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CHCS) has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations with the OCR and has agreed to put in place a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). CHCS will also pay a financial fine of $650,000. CHCS is the sole...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 19, 2016 | HIPAA News
Recently an officer from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) found a number of medical records in a recycling dumpster, accessible to the public, in Broad Ripple Park, Indianapolis. A quantity of confidential documents were located in file folders...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 7, 2016 | HIPAA News
Recently, the head of the House Select Investigative Panel tasked with reviewing the trade of baby body parts by abortion clinics corresponded with the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights asking an investigation into...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 3, 2016 | HIPAA News
In a recent ruling the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that a former town administrator of Townsend, MA., violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule in June last year. This occurred when he posted an “information packet” online...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 23, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has fined New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) $2.2 million for permitting patients to be filmed for a TV show without receiving prior permission from the patients. In 2011, an ABC crew was...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 22, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has revealed a compensation settlement has been agreed with Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, P.A., of North Carolina over alleged breaches of HIPAA Rules. Raleigh Orthopaedic has agreed to pay OCR...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 17, 2016 | HIPAA News
A legal case has been initiated in Federal Court in San Jose, California by cancer patients who claim they have had their privacy violated after visiting the websites of cancer institutes. The plaintiffs allege that the websites of some cancer institutes contain...
by Patrick Kennedy | Apr 5, 2016 | HIPAA News
Data violation notification laws in Tennessee have been reviewed to better protect state residents. The new law requires organizations to issue breach notifications to state residents more quickly, while the range of information covered has been widened. When the new...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 19, 2016 | HIPAA News
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has settled potential HIPAA violations for $3.9 million with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. This is the second largest settlement penalty agreed with OCR, just below the $4.8 million...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 17, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has revealed it has reached a settlement with North Memorial Health Care of Minnesota over what is claimed were HIPAA violations arising from a 2011 data breach. North Memorial has agreed to pay...
by Patrick Kennedy | Mar 1, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Office for Civil Rights encourages suggestions from HIPAA-covered bodies about aspects of HIPAA that are unclear or need further clarification. Some of the inquiries submitted via the OCR website indicate some covered bodies are struggling to comprehend the Health...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 24, 2016 | HIPAA News
A report of an investigation into South Carolina’s Medicaid agency by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General has been published The investigation was carried out in 2013 following the 2012 hacking of the Revenue Department and a...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 20, 2016 | HIPAA News
OCR has revealed it has come at a settlement with a Los Angeles-based provider of physical therapy services after the discovery of HIPAA Privacy Rule breaches in 2012. Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy, Inc., (CPT) has said they will pay a fine of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 4, 2016 | HIPAA News
OCR has ordered a HIPAA-covered entity to pay civil monetary penalties for HIPAA breaches. Lincare Inc. must to pay $239,800 for violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule which were found during the investigation of a complaint about a breach of 278 patient records. The...
by Patrick Kennedy | Feb 3, 2016 | HIPAA News
A recent survey carried out by Legal Workspace suggests that many are not. In fact, most health attorneys are not in adherence with HIPAA Rules and have failed to implement the appropriate technical, administrative, and physical measures to keep PHI/PII secure. Legal...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 22, 2016 | Cybersecurity
A nursing assistant from the Parkside Manor assisted-living center in Kenosha, WI., has been fired from her job for recording a video of a practically naked 93-year-old Alzheimer’s patient and sharing it on Snapchat. Recently an unwelcome trend has emerged involving...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 17, 2016 | HIPAA News
TigertText has revealed the launch of two new communication solutions for healthcare providers. The two new devices have clear potential, and could convince many healthcare providers to start replacing pagers and faxes. The new products, named TigerPage &...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 16, 2016 | HIPAA News
The healthcare industry trails well behind every other industry sector when it comes to implementing new technology. It is an acknowledged fact that the sector appears to dear change, even when those alterations stand to significantly improve the lot of patients. With...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 13, 2016 | HIPAA News
Microsoft will be stopping support and security updates for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 as of Wednesday January 12, 2016. All users of Internet Explorer must switch to Internet Explorer 11, or make the switch over to Microsoft Edge, in order to continue receiving...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 12, 2016 | HIPAA News
Organizations operating in Oregon must now adhere with a new data breach law that came into effect on January 1, 2016. If a data breach that exposes the personal information of more than 250 state residents is experienced, a breach notice must be filed to the Oregon...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 11, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has started 2016 with the launch of a brand new website interface, and has now followed up on previous assurance by issuing new guidance on HIPAA. This is the first in what is expected to be a...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 9, 2016 | HIPAA News
The FTC has also ordered Henry Schein Practice Solutions, Inc., to pay a fine of $250,000, and the company must also comply with a 20-year consent order after a recent ruling said the company had “falsely advertised the level of encryption it provided to protect...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 7, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services has revealed a final rule permitting certain covered bodies to disclose specific elements of Protected Health Information (PHI) to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), altering the HIPAA Privacy...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 6, 2016 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights website has completed a redesigned recently, upgrading with new features, a responsive design and a more user-friendly feel. The redesign was part of the Reimagined HHS.gov project. The aim was to...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jan 5, 2016 | HIPAA Advice
The Federal Communication Commission has released a Declaratory Ruling and Order to clear up any confusion the rules in relation to HIPAA and patient telephone calls. Some healthcare suppliers have had difficulty with the rules regarding HIPAA and patient telephone...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 30, 2015 | Cybersecurity
The Allina Health System Minneapolis Isles clinic has notified around 6,000 patients of a breach of their Protected Health Information (PHI). The clinic, located at 2800 Hennepin Avenue, found instances of improper PHI disposal had occurred after documents including...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 24, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Office for Civil Rights recently release its first financial penalty to an organization that experienced a data violation after its staff responded to a phishing campaign. The case lead to The University of Washington Medicine agreeing to a $750,000 fine to settle...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 21, 2015 | HIPAA News
New cybersecurity measures specifically for the healthcare industry have been added to the Omnibus bill signed into law by Congress late last week. The aim of their inclusion is to help healthcare organizations tackle the growing danger of cyberattacks, and supply...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 20, 2015 | HIPAA News
TigerText, the largest supplier of secure text messaging solutions, has revealed the its latest initiative, TigerText Anywhere: A HIPAA compliant secure texting app for desktop computing. TigerText’s HIPAA compliant text message platform has already been a great...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 16, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General has recently published the results of information system reviews conducted on three Californian Medicaid managed-care organizations (MCOs), revealinf numerous, significant security...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 16, 2015 | HIPAA News
Day Pitney LLP has launch of a new HIPAA Self-Assessment Tool just before of the second round of Dept. Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights HIPAA-compliance audits. The law firm, with approximately 300 attorneys in it its Connecticut, New Jersey, New...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 15, 2015 | HIPAA News
University of Washington Medicine has agreed to settle a HIPAA fine of $750,000, for potential HIPAA violations with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, arising from a 90,000-record data breach experienced in 2013. There has been an...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 10, 2015 | HIPAA News
An HIPAA fine of $15,000 has been issued by the attorney general to University of Rochester Medical Center for a breach of patient privacy that happened in March, 2015. It is not only the Office for Civil Rights that issues financial penalties for violations of HIPAA...
by Patrick Kennedy | Dec 2, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has agreed a HIPAA violation fine of $3.5 million with Puerto Rico Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee Triple S Management Corporation. This is the second HIPAA violation fine to be revealed in the space...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 27, 2015 | Cybersecurity
Following a data breach that occurred back in 2011, the HHS has revealed that Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to settle a case with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) over alleged HIPAA violations for $850,000. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 26, 2015 | HIPAA News
A legal case has been filed by the Texas attorney general’s office against Alliance Health Management & Consulting Inc., for the improper disposal of Protected Health Information (PHI) of patients. The home healthcare management company is no longer operating,...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 14, 2015 | HIPAA News
This week a case against University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) was presided over by Judge Jody Luebbers in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in relation to the posting of Protected Health Information of a patient on social media. The incident that lead...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 12, 2015 | Cybersecurity
Following the 2012 theft of a laptop computer containing the unencrypted data of 8,883 Connecticut residents, Hartford Hospital – and one of its Business Associates, EMC Corporation (EMC) – have agreed to a settlement with the Connecticut Office of the...
by Patrick Kennedy | Nov 7, 2015 | HIPAA News
Boston US Attorney’s Office has revealed that a unit of pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott has agreed to plead guilty to healthcare fraud, and will be required to pay $125 million to resolve civil and criminal liability. The legal case against the pharmaceutical...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 30, 2015 | HIPAA News
As part of Phase IV of the CAQH® CORE® Operating Rules, the CAQH® Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE®) recently approved new national rules for electronic HIPAA transactions. These new rules for electronic HIPAA transactions govern four groups...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 15, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) has developed two new resources to help groupsput in place the new ICD-10 codes required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The new resources, ICD-10 State Workers’ Compensation...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 10, 2015 | HIPAA News
The newly appointed Deputy Director for Information Privacy at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has been adjusting to her new role at the OCR since her appointment earlier this year, but until recently she has not given spoken to...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 2, 2015 | HIPAA News
Cancer Care Group, an Indiana-based radiation oncology private physician practice, has agreed to settle with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights for $750,000, for potential HIPAA breaches relating to a 2012 data violation. In August...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 1, 2015 | HIPAA News
Fitbit, America’s leading producer of activity and fitness trackers, announced it has developed a HIPAA compliant wellness platform which it should corner the lucrative healthcare market. The company has dabbled with health and fitness trackers for the healthcare...
by Patrick Kennedy | Sep 1, 2015 | HIPAA News
The VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has recently issued the findings of its administrative examination of into improper web-based collaboration technology by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). It found the agency is particularly vulnerable to data...
by Patrick Kennedy | Aug 1, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has released a Declaratory Ruling and Order to clarify the rules in relation HIPAA and patient telephone calls. Some healthcare providers have had difficulty understanding the rules regarding HIPAA and patient telephone...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 26, 2015 | HIPAA News
This week, the Vice President and Deputy Director of the American Hospital Association (AHA) sent a correspondence to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMMS) revealing concern over the implementation of Health Plan Identification numbers (HPIDs) and...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 25, 2015 | Cybersecurity, HIPAA News
Being compliant with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules can be a challenge for all organizations, regardless of size. However, smaller healthcare providers tend to have more issues. Budgets tend to be tighter, and a lack of suitable staff means progress is slow. This...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 19, 2015 | HIPAA News
In May, The University of Rochester Medical Center experience a data violation after a member of staff took the Protected Health Information (PHI) of patients to a new employer, The employee in question, who was trying to ensure continuity of patient care, was a...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 16, 2015 | HIPAA News
A recent ePHI data security audit completed by the New York Office of the State Comptroller has seen Roswell Park Cancer Institute pass with no HIPAA violations identified. The healthcare provider was commended for the effort it has put in to protecting the privacy of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jul 16, 2015 | HIPAA News
Two employees who retained the Protected Health Information (PHI) of patients after their employment at Arkansas Children’s Hospital was terminated, did not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) according to a rulign made by the U.S...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 25, 2015 | HIPAA News
Electronics giant Samsung has yet to issue a fix for a a security vulnerability existing on Samsung Galaxy devices, 7 months after the company was first alerted to it. A hacking vulnerability affecting S3 to S6 models of Samsung Galaxy phones was identified that...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 19, 2015 | HIPAA News
Deven McGraw been appointed to the role of Deputy Director of Health Information Privacy, and must get the agency auditing, advising and enforcing as it is supposed to be. Ms McGraw will be filling the role left vacant by departure of Susan McAndrew, who retired last...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 19, 2015 | HIPAA News
A survey recently released by Healthcare Information Security Today (HIST) shows many Covered Entities (CEs) are making the same compliance errors that were uncovered during the initial phase of audits. It has been three years since the OCR finished the pilot phase of...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 18, 2015 | HIPAA News
Microsoft has revealed it will be stopping ceasing patches and software updates for Windows Server 2003 on July 15, 2015. Any HIPAA-covered body that is still running the defunct software on any of its servers after this date will be in violation of the HIPAA Security...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 11, 2015 | Cybersecurity, HIPAA News
A lack of a appropriate workforce with appropriate skills to improve cybersecurity defenses is leading many CISOs and CIOs to look outside their organizations for assistance. Businesses and healthcare suppliers are now increasingly hiring third party consultants and...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 8, 2015 | HIPAA News
A former business owned by Crown Point Medical Tests has breached the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) after it did not securely dispose of files containing the Protected Health Information (PHI) of at least 167 people. The victims had...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 4, 2015 | HIPAA News
Cybercriminals are stealing healthcare IT devices to gain access to Protected Health Information (PHI) so they can can make false insurance claims, apply for credit, and obtain medical prescriptions and services. This is one of many ways that data is obtained to...
by Patrick Kennedy | Jun 2, 2015 | HIPAA News
North Dakota and Nevada have updated their breach notification laws this year, joining the growing list of states to do so. In May 2017, new laws were passed to tighten up the legislation and expand “personal information” definitions, with the two states following the...
by Patrick Kennedy | May 25, 2015 | HIPAA News
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has confirmed – to Fierce Health IT – that its preliminary HIPAA surveys have now been issued, marking the start of the 2015 HIPAA compliance audits. In a recent article in the National Law Review,...
by Patrick Kennedy | May 17, 2015 | HIPAA News
A Business Associate (BA) of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has issued a notification to the healthcare center, and many other clients, of a HIPAA breach caused by a member of staff. The now former staff member is accused of having stolen the records of...
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