Articles and Blogs

Over the course of the past two weeks, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has undertaken several measures in an attempt to assist health care providers in light of the COVID-19 crisis, including by expanding funding opportunities available to eligible health care providers for telecommunications services and equipment and reducing the burden of participation in... READ MORE

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) generally prohibits the use of automated text messages or prerecorded calls to a cellular number without the prior consent of the receiving party. The TCPA expressly excepts from the foregoing prohibition any calls or messages sent for “emergency purposes.” See 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(4). In a Declaratory Ruling... READ MORE

As the COVID-19 outbreak threatens to rapidly overload the health care system and global economy, threat actors seeking to profit during the chaos are increasing their activity. As such, disruptive and destructive cyberattacks could potentially delay or terminate critical services as the demand for COVID-19 testing and treatment continues to increase. This includes not... READ MORE

Last Updated: April 13, 2020 Table of Contents Enforcement Discretion for COVID-19 Testing Sites Enforcement Discretion for Business Associate Public Health Disclosures Disclosures to Law Enforcement, Paramedics, First Responders and Public Health Authorities Privacy and Security Requirements for Telehealth Waived Section 1135 HIPAA Waiver OCR Bulletin: HIPAA and COVID-19 Hall Render privacy attorneys are... READ MORE

On March 3, 2020, the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $100,000 settlement with a physician practice (“Practice”) that it found to be significantly out of compliance with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). While OCR was investigating the Practice’s complaint against... READ MORE

In part 1 of this series about negotiating procurement deals, we talked about the parties to the agreement and how that easily overlooked issue can cause problems such as unlicensed use of the software being acquired. Other basic issues can cause deals to go sideways. This post addresses the first issues that an organization’s... READ MORE

On December 30, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a resolution agreement with an ambulance company (“Company”) covered entity that provides both emergency and nonemergency transportation services. The Company employs only 64 workers. The Company will pay $65,000 and enter into a Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”)... READ MORE

Your vendor just sent you a quote to let you obtain the software that you need, and it contains a link to the vendor’s standard terms and conditions. If it’s a seven-figure or eight-figure deal, one can assume that the vendor had the good sense to send you an editable version of the contract... READ MORE

On December 12, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced the second settlement under its “Right of Access Initiative.” A health care company that provides primary care and interventional pain management services (“Provider”) will pay $85,000 and enter into a Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”) to settle potential... READ MORE

On November 27, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that an Affiliated Covered Entity made up of 10 hospital covered entities (“ACE Organization”) will pay a penalty of $2.175 million and enter into a two-year Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”) to settle potential violations of the Health... READ MORE