Articles and Blogs

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $300,640 settlement and corrective action plan with a dermatology provider over the improper disposal of protected health information (“PHI”). Background In May of 2021, the dermatology provider reported a breach to OCR when empty specimen containers with PHI on... READ MORE

On June 29, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) released a notice and guidance on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the protection of patient information relating to reproductive health care (the “Notice”). The Notice also describes example situations involving... READ MORE

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights released guidance detailing how health care providers subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) can use remote communication technologies to provide audio-only telehealth services when such communications are conducted in a manner that is consistent with... READ MORE

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a settlement with a dental practice (“Practice”) which has agreed to pay $62,500 to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, as well as to take corrective action after impermissibly disclosing patient PHI to a political campaign manager... READ MORE

On January 19, 2021, OCR announced that it will exercise its discretion in enforcing the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules by not imposing penalties for noncompliance with those requirements against covered entities who are health care providers or their business associates in connection with the use of online or web-based scheduling applications... READ MORE

Thursday, April 2 Recap Note – ​We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time, but it is subject to change ​as circumstances warrant. Also, all finalized resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website.​ HHS OCR Announces Notification of Enforcement Discretion HHS’s Office for Civil Rights... READ MORE

Tuesday, March 24 Recap Note – ​We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time, but it is subject to change ​as circumstances warrant. Also, all finalized resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website.​ Congressional Outlook Negotiations in the Senate over the third stimulus bill continued... 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

On November 5, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that a New York Medical Center (“Medical Center”) will settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) by paying a civil penalty of $3 million and entering into a Corrective Action... READ MORE

On October 23, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a civil monetary penalty (“CMP”) of $2,154,000 against a nonprofit academic health system (“Health System”) for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The Notice of Proposed Determination and the Notice of... READ MORE