Written by Dianne J. Bourque (reprinted from Mintz Levin’s Health Law Policy Matters blog) The most recent Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) HIPAA enforcement action serves as an important reminder to health care providers of the security risks associated with a mishandled medical records custody transfer and the risks of leaving paper records in the… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Office of Civil Rights
Five Lessons from OCR’s Report to Congress on Breaches and HIPAA Rules Compliance
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Breach, Data Breach Notification, HIPAA/HITECH, Privacy Regulation, SecurityWritten by Stephanie D. Willis and Dianne J. Bourque (republished from Mintz Levin’s Health Law Policy Matters blog) Last week, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released two reports required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act: (i) the Annual Report to Congress on Breaches of Unsecured Protected Information… Continue Reading
OCR Shares Preliminary HITECH Audit Results; What’s Next??
Posted in HIPAA/HITECH, Privacy RegulationWritten by Dianne J. Bourque Last week at the OCR/NIST conference, Building Assurance through HIPAA Security, Linda Sanches of the Office for Civil Rights provided an extensive update on the pilot HITECH audit program, including preliminary findings, what regulated entities can expect next and suggestions for covered entities concerned about being audited. Mintz Levin attended… Continue Reading
The Rising Cost of HIPAA Violations: $100,000 Fine Levied on Physician Group
Posted in Data Compliance & Security, HIPAA/HITECH, SecurityWritten by Kimberly Gold If your company needs another reminder that policies and procedures, risk assessments, documentation and training are critical elements for HIPAA compliance programs, we have another corrective action plan – and monetary fine – that should be utilized as a “teachable moment” for health care providers and business associates alike. Phoenix Cardiac… Continue Reading
HIPAA Enforcement on the Rise: Do You Know Who Your Business Associates Are??
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Stephen Bentfield In the two-plus years since the enactment of the HITECH Act, the health care industry has seen a dramatic shift in federal and state HIPAA enforcement posture. Just within the last month, HHS announced a $4.3 million civil fine imposed on Cignet Health for failing to provide patients with copies of… Continue Reading
Massachusetts General Hospital settles 2009 breach with Office of Civil Rights
Posted in Data Breach, HIPAA/HITECHThe cost of data breaches keeps on rising. Add another million to this week’s HIPAA charges. Just released this afternoon – the Office of Civil Rights announced that it has reached a settlement with Massachusetts General Hospital relating to a 2009 loss of medical records when a billing manager who was carrying the records accidentally… Continue Reading
Office of Civil Rights Speaks at HIMSS – on the heels of a $4.3 million fine to Cignet Health
Posted in UncategorizedThis week, we heard about the first civil money penalty under the HIPAA Privacy Rule for failure to provide access to medical records and willful neglect — and it was a whopper. The appearance of Adam Greene, Senior Health IT and Privacy Advisor to the Office of Civil Rights – the enforcement arm of the… Continue Reading
