My heart goes out to any family member trying desperately to get news about a loved one in the hours and days following an individual or widespread tragedy, irrespective of
Continue Reading Reflections on HIPAA Protections and Permissions in the Wake of the Orlando Tragedy
protected health information
I Want My PHI! HIPAA Access Rights, Authorizations and HHS Guidance
By Elizabeth G. Litten on
Daily struggles to protect personal data from hacking, phishing, theft and loss make it easy to forget that HIPAA is not just about privacy and security. It also requires covered…
Continue Reading I Want My PHI! HIPAA Access Rights, Authorizations and HHS Guidance
Death and HIPAA Privacy Rights: What Would Justice Scalia Have Said?
By Elizabeth G. Litten on
A reader comments on that “Medical Hack” meme
By William Maruca on
A thoughtful reader responded to our last post, Debunking a Viral “Medical Hack” Meme, which advised health plan subscribers to cite certain HIPAA compliance issues in efforts to overturn…
Continue Reading A reader comments on that “Medical Hack” meme
Debunking a Viral “Medical Hack” Meme
By William Maruca on
Since the early days of HIPAA, a steady trickle of misinterpretations, misunderstandings and half-truths have circulated informally both within the medical community and among the general public. The prevalence of…
Continue Reading Debunking a Viral “Medical Hack” Meme
5 Practical Steps for Business Associate Compliance
By Elizabeth G. Litten on
Congratulations! You have a HIPAA-compliant business associate (or subcontractor) agreement in place – now what? How can you implement the agreement without becoming a HIPAA guru?
There are many resources…
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Six Tips for Physicians to Protect Patient Data on the Internet
By Michael Kline on
Our partner Elizabeth Litten and I were once again quoted by our good friend Marla Durben Hirsch in her recent articles in Medical Practice Compliance Alert entitled “Misapplication of Internet…
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Hackers: Take My Health Information, But Please Don’t Take My Health
By Elizabeth G. Litten on
We know by now that protected health information (PHI) and other personal information is vulnerable to hackers. Last week, the Washington Times reported that the Department of Health and Human…
Continue Reading Hackers: Take My Health Information, But Please Don’t Take My Health
HIPAA-Type Protections Are Not Just For Humans – When It Comes To Medical Records, Animals Have Privacy Rights, Too (Part 1)
Co-authored by Nancy Halpern, DVM, Esq.; also posted on Animal Law Update
HIPAA does not protect animals’ health information – it applies to the protected health information (or PHI)…
Continue Reading HIPAA-Type Protections Are Not Just For Humans – When It Comes To Medical Records, Animals Have Privacy Rights, Too (Part 1)
Athletes Do Not Leave Their HIPAA Rights At The Locker Room Door
By Elizabeth G. Litten on
HIPAA has made an unlikely appearance twice already this month in news reports involving famous athletes.
Between the Pierre-Paul medical record tweet by ESPN reporter Adam Schefter earlier this month…
Continue Reading Athletes Do Not Leave Their HIPAA Rights At The Locker Room Door