The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled a HIPAA investigation involving iHealth Solutions (also known as Advantum Health), a healthcare business associate that provides coding, billing, and IT...
Healthcare data breaches are continuing to impact the healthcare sector at alarming rates, even as healthcare organizations continue to adopt the latest security solutions to keep pace with the influx of new cyber threats.
The healthcare...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with Manasa Health Center, a psychiatry provider in New Jersey, over a potential HIPAA Privacy Rule violation. According to an April 2020...
The American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to reconsider its December 2022 Online Tracking Guidance, suggesting that its definition of protected health...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled a HIPAA investigation with MedEvolve, an Arkansas-based business associate that provides revenue cycle management, practice management, and practice...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled a potential HIPAA right of access violation with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based licensed counselor David Mente, MA, LPC. The psychotherapy provider must...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with the goal of strengthening HIPAA Privacy Rule protections for those seeking and delivering reproductive...
HHS requested $78 million in funding for its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for FY 2024, signifying a $38 million increase from last year’s budget. The requested budget increase follows HHS’...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced new restructuring efforts, including the formation of three new divisions, in order to better manage its increased volume of HIPAA and HITECH complaints...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) delivered two reports to Congress that shed light on healthcare data breaches and HIPAA compliance efforts logged during the 2021 calendar year.
The reports...
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with Georgia-based Life Hope Labs following a potential HIPAA right of access violation. Life Hope Labs, a full-service diagnostic lab in Sandy...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached a HIPAA right of access settlement with Health Specialists of Central Florida. The primary care practice paid OCR $20,000 to resolve the potential HIPAA...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached a settlement with California-based New Vision Dental (NVD), over a potential HIPAA violation. The practice paid OCR $23,000 and agreed to implement a...
Following reports that patient data was transmitted to Facebook through the use of tracking technology on hospital websites and within password-protected patient portals, the HHS Office for Civil...
In a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) proposed updates to the Confidentiality...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) utilized its October newsletter to remind covered entities of their incident response obligations under the HIPAA Security Rule. The newsletter provided a...
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a review of Medicare telehealth services delivered during the pandemic, recommending that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) provide additional...
The HIPAA Privacy Rule’s right of access provisions ensure that patients can obtain access to their protected health information (PHI). Failure to do so may result in hefty monetary penalties and mandated corrective action...
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has officially sworn in Melanie Fontes Rainer as director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Since assuming the role...
From 2009 to June 2022, organizations reported nearly 5,000 healthcare data breaches to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) data breach portal, researchers at Comparitech found. The breaches impacted...