HIPAA News
Calls for HIPAA Investigation into Abortion Clinic PHI Disclosures

Calls for HIPAA Investigation into Abortion Clinic PHI Disclosures

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...

Townsend Violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule: OCR Ruling

Townsend Violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule: OCR Ruling

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...

Facebook and Cancer Sites  Face Lawsuits for Alleged HIPAA Violation

Facebook and Cancer Sites Face Lawsuits for Alleged HIPAA Violation

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...

Update for Tennessee Breach Notification Laws

Update for Tennessee Breach Notification Laws

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...

OCR Clarifies Permitted Uses and Disclosures of PHI

OCR Clarifies Permitted Uses and Disclosures of PHI

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...

HIPAA Violation Costs Lincare $239,800

HIPAA Violation Costs Lincare $239,800

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...

Law Firms are not Complying with HIPAA Rules: Survey

Law Firms are not Complying with HIPAA Rules: Survey

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...

Healthcare Pager and Fax Replacement Launched by TigerText

Healthcare Pager and Fax Replacement Launched by TigerText

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 &...

Upgrade Internet Explorer to Remain HIPAA Compliant

Upgrade Internet Explorer to Remain HIPAA Compliant

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...

Oregon Breach Notification Law Now Applicable

Oregon Breach Notification Law Now Applicable

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...

New Guidance on Patient Data Access Issued by OCR

New Guidance on Patient Data Access Issued by OCR

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...

NICS Reports Now Permitted Under HIPAA Privacy Rules

NICS Reports Now Permitted Under HIPAA Privacy Rules

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...

Long Awaited Upgrade for OCR Website

Long Awaited Upgrade for OCR Website

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...

Phishing Simulation Exercises Valuable: Official Study

Phishing Simulation Exercises Valuable: Official Study

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...

Omnibus Bill Addresses Healthcare Cybersecurity

Omnibus Bill Addresses Healthcare Cybersecurity

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...

HIPAA Compliant Texting App for Desktops Launched by TigerText

HIPAA Compliant Texting App for Desktops Launched by TigerText

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...

Security  Vulnerabilities at Medi-Cal MCOs Revealed in OIG Audit

Security Vulnerabilities at Medi-Cal MCOs Revealed in OIG Audit

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...

University of Washington Medicine School Fined $750,000

University of Washington Medicine School Fined $750,000

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...

NY Attorney General HIPAA Fine for URMC

NY Attorney General HIPAA Fine for URMC

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...

HIPAA Violation Fine $3.5 Million for Triple-S

HIPAA Violation Fine $3.5 Million for Triple-S

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...

Improper Disposal of PHI: Texas Attorney General Takes Action

Improper Disposal of PHI: Texas Attorney General Takes Action

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,...

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Chief Operating Officer
J. Flowers Health Institute