In recognition of the vulnerability of mobile devices and the daily use of those devices in health care, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) released a practice guide earlier this month entitled Securing Electronic Health Records on Mobile Devices (NIST Special Publication 1800-1). NIST and
HIPAA
ALJ Judge Upholds OCR’s $4,348,000 Data Breach Penalty on Texas Hospital
HIPAA has teeth. On June 1, 2018, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center violated HIPAA. In doing so, the ALJ granted the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) summary judgment, requiring the hospital to fork up the $4,348,000 in civil monetary penalties imposed by OCR.
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OCR Issues Guidance on the Use of HIPAA Authorizations for Research
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This week, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance on the use of HIPAA-compliant authorizations for research based on a mandate in the Cures Act for such guidance. The guidance addresses authorizations and expiration language for future research as well as revocation of the authorization. A copy of the guidance can be obtained here.
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Out-of-Business File Storage Company Paid $100K for Alleged HIPAA Violations
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Yesterday, DHHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement with a dissolved medical records moving and storage company in Illinois. This is another example of OCR bringing enforcement actions against a business associate under HIPAA. OCR investigated a complaint that the business associate brought medical records to a shredding and recycling facility in…
$3.5 M OCR Settlement for Five Breaches Affecting Fewer Than 500 Patients Each
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Yesterday, OCR announced its $3.5 million settlement with Fresenius Medical Care Holdings (“Fresenius”) to resolve alleged HIPAA violations. While the large settlement figure alone is eye-catching, the underlying facts require the complete attention of HIPAA covered entities. OCR is sending a message about HIPAA Security Rule compliance.
Five Fresenius entities in five different states suffered five completely separate but relatively common breaches. Each breach involved stolen or missing equipment. No one breach involved records of more than 500 patients. In fact, combined, the total number of patients impacted was 521. As a reminder, the $5.5 million settlement this time last year with Memorial Health Care System involved the records of 115,143 individuals.
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OCR Published Three HIPAA Settlements in Two Weeks, Signaling a Ramp Up of HIPAA Enforcement Activity
Providers Beware: OCR Published Three HIPAA Settlements in Two Weeks, Signaling a Ramp Up of HIPAA Enforcement Activity:
Make sure risk assessments, business associate agreements and policies & procedures are in place and up to date.
In a two week period, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published settlements with three different health care providers for violations of HIPAA. The settlements were not insignificant, ranging from $31,000 for a small physician practice, to $400,000 for a federally qualified health center (FQHC), to $2,500,000 for a wireless health services provider. Each of these violations and subsequent settlements should act as a cautionary tale to providers, both large and small, that they must continue to be vigilant in their HIPAA compliance efforts.
Continue Reading OCR Published Three HIPAA Settlements in Two Weeks, Signaling a Ramp Up of HIPAA Enforcement Activity