By Art Gross – In mid-March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced that they would use “enforcement discretion” in regard to HIPAA compliance with telehealth. And, the healthcare community gave out a collective sigh of relief.
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By Matt Fisher – HIPAA and the media can be a risky combination for healthcare organizations. Prior HIPAA settlements imposed by the Office for Civil Rights have dinged hospitals for allowing reality television shows to be filmed in the hospital and speaking with a reporter to refute a patient complaint.
By Art Gross – Community-Based Testing Sites are the latest entity to be excluded from HIPAA enforcement penalties by the Office for Civil Rights for their participation in regard to COVID-19 specimen collection and testing.
By Matt Fisher – The COVID-19 pandemic remains in a state of emergency across the country and access to testing also remains a top priority. Testing continues to be viewed as a significant means of determining the scope of the pandemic as well as establishing…
By Art Gross – As we continue to make our way through new territory with the COVID-19 crisis, we are having to adjust the rules and regulations that previously stood in place. HIPAA is no exception to that.
By Matt Fisher – As the telehealth flood gates are being opened, privacy and security considerations still remain. HIPAA will continue to lurk in the background even with the OCR pre-announcing the exercise of discretion to not enforce telehealth related violations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Matt Fisher – The declaration of COVID19 as a pandemic and the United States declaring a national emergency to help contain and enhance treatment access have resulted in a number of changes to ease potential regulatory burdens or barriers in healthcare.
The OCR will exercise its enforcement discretion and will waive potential penalties for HIPAA violations against health care providers that serve patients through everyday communications technologies during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.
By Matt Fisher – The first HIPAA settlement of 2020 brings home a couple of key considerations for compliance. The first consideration is to be comfortable with one’s own level of adherence to HIPAA before filing a report (even a necessary one) that will inevitably result in an investigation.