By Matt Fisher – The HHS Office for Civil Rights is finishing 2024 with a flurry of HIPAA settlements and there is still more time to go. Each settlement offers a different insight into necessary compliance and oversight activities.
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By Matt Fisher – The HHS Office for Civil Rights continues to pursue enforcement actions when alleged non-compliance occurs following a right of access request. Not every settlement provides the same degree of insight or ability to follow OCR’s line of thinking though. That is the case stemming from the latest civil monetary penalty announced by OCR.
By Matt Fisher – The Office for Civil Rights announced the latest in its ongoing series of settlements or penalties stemming from individual right of access issues under HIPAA on October 17, 2024, which also happens to be the fiftieth such settlement.
By Matt Fisher -The so far long and tangled path for tracking technology and HIPAA in healthcare appears it will end with a whimper. It is being reported that the federal Department of Health and Human Services dropped its appeal of the decision from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas…
By Matthew Fisher – The Office for Civil Rights continues to dig into reports about delayed access to records by covered entities. The initial flurry of resolutions from many years ago now has not necessarily resulted in a significant change of behavior, which is frankly a bit surprising.
By Matt Fisher – The pieces to the puzzle that is the use of tracking technology in healthcare continue to accumulate. The most recent piece was a summary judgment decision from the Northern District of Texas stemming from a lawsuit filed by the American Hospital Association along with a couple of hospitals.
By Art Gross – The OCR is preparing to launch a new round of audits in 2024 to assess compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule across the healthcare sector. After long delays, HIPAA-regulated entities can expect increased scrutiny on their security practices and risk management programs.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights published an update to the frequently asked questions webpage concerning the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident.
By Matthew Fisher – The OCR announced yet another settlement action involving the HIPAA Right of Access. It is a reminder that right of access remains a focal point for OCR even though cyberattacks formed the basis for settlements announced earlier in 2024.