Every October, in recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the federal government and its partners work to educate stakeholders on cybersecurity awareness and how best to protect the privacy and security of confidential data. Within the health care industry, the HIPAA Security Rule applies to covered entities and their business associates (“regulated entities”) and electronic protected health information (ePHI). Because ePHI identifies individuals and includes information relating to an individual’s health,… More
Tag Archives: PHI
Jeremy Meisinger discusses why strong, transparent privacy protections are both possible and necessary to secure the public buy-in needed to make public health surveillance work
Both legally and practically, there need not be an exclusive choice between health information privacy and using GPS and other technology to gather and provide information about COVID-19. Foley Hoag’s Jeremy Meisinger shares more in this GPS World article.
COVID-19 and HIPAA: OCR Guidance on Disclosures to Law Enforcement, First Responders, and Public Health Authorities
On March 24, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services 
issued guidance on how HIPAA covered entities may disclose protected health information (PHI) about an individual who has been infected with or exposed to COVID-19 to law enforcement, paramedics, other first responders, and public health authorities in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.… More
Want to Know Why Memorial Healthcare Systems Is Paying HHS OCR $5.5 Million?
On February 16, 2017, HHS OCR announced that Memorial Healthcare Systems (MHS) had paid the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $5.5 million to settle potential violations of HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules and agreed to implement a “robust” three year corrective action plan and resolution agreement. Why did MHS pay so much? A long-term failure to close security holes that led to identity theft and fraudulent tax returns.… More
$1.5 Million Settlement of First HIPAA Enforcement Action Resulting from HITECH Breach Notification Rule
The trend toward increasingly large health information breach settlements has continued with yesterday’s announcement thatBlue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $1,500,000 to settle potential violations of HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules, HHS’s Office of Civil Rights. BCBST also agreed to a corrective action plan to address gaps in its HIPAA compliance program.… More