Office of Civil Rights

While the summaries of closed investigations posted on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services list of breaches of unsecured PHI affecting 500 or more individuals continue to provide highly useful information for covered entities, business associates and subcontractors relative to confronting PHI breaches, large and small, they must be analyzed with appropriate care and attention paid to changes brought about by the recently-published Omnibus Rule.
Continue Reading Collateral Effects of the Omnibus Rule: Exercise Caution in Using Past OCR Summaries on Large PHI Breaches as a Roadmap for Future Guidance

A thoughtful reader commented on a recent blog post in this series by highlighting the importance of evaluating the risk of harm by any covered entity that experiences a PHI security breach.
Continue Reading A Reader’s Comment about a Third Potential Posting on the HHS Breach Parade for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

The recent paucity of postings of summaries on the Department of Health and Human Services list of large HIPAA privacy breaches by the federal Office of Civil Rights dampens the educational value that can be derived therefrom by covered entities and business associates.
Continue Reading As the Parade of Major PHI Breaches Marches Ever Onward, Where Have All the OCR Summaries Gone?

Employers should limit PHI that they provide with respect to medical examinations of employees and job applicants and in other contexts to the least amount of medical information necessary for evaluation in order to avoid potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act, State workers’ compensation laws and other statutes.
Continue Reading Employers: Beware of PHI “Minimum Necessary” Standards Lurking Under Statutes Other Than HIPAA and State PHI Statutes

The settlement in the Accretive Health, Inc. PHI breach case provides a good example of how the blurring of the covered entity and business associate roles can backfire on parties that fail to sufficiently analyze and define such roles, not only at the outset of a relationship but throughout its duration and evolution.
Continue Reading Business Associate Breach Leads to $2.5M Settlement by Accretive: But Who is the Covered Entity or Business Associate Here, and Do We Care?

Many people who have been in the unfortunate situation where they believe that their protected health information (PHI) has been compromised inappropriately, are often surprised and deeply disappointed to learn that the HIPAA law does not provide a “private right of action.”…
Continue Reading Why Can’t I Sue Under HIPAA for a Breach of my Protected Health Information? What Can I Do?

The recent Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) resolution with Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, the state Medicaid agency (“Alaska Medicaid”), which includes the payment by Alaska Medicaid to HHS of $1.7 million respecting possible violations of HIPAA, raises questions as to the exacting of payments by HHS from a state agency that funds medical care for the Alaska indigent from taxpayers.
Continue Reading The Breach Parade: OCR’s Reviewing Stand Lashes Out and Takes $1.7 million from Alaska Medicaid – Who is Really Being Penalized?