Office for Civil Rights

HHS Settles HIPAA Investigation With Healthcare Business Associate

by Jill McKeon

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...

Biggest Healthcare Data Breaches Reported This Year, So Far

by Jill McKeon

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...

HHS Reaches Settlement With NJ Provider Over Potential HIPAA Privacy Rule Violations

by Jill McKeon

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...

AHA Urges OCR to Suspend or Amend Online Tracking Guidance

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Settles HIPAA Investigation With Revenue Cycle Management Company

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Resolves HIPAA Right of Access Case With Pennsylvania Therapist

by Jill McKeon

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...

HHS Proposes Rule to Strengthen HIPAA Protections For Reproductive Healthcare Data

by Jill McKeon

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 Requests $78M in Funding For OCR in Next Fiscal Year

by Jill McKeon

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’...

HHS Restructures OCR to Better Handle Increased HIPAA Complaint Volume

by Jill McKeon

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...

HHS Delivers 2 Reports to Congress On Healthcare Data Breaches, HIPAA Compliance

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Settles HIPAA Right of Access Case With Georgia Lab

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Resolves HIPAA Right of Access Case With FL Primary Care Practice

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Settles Potential HIPAA Violation After Dental Practice Discloses PHI on Yelp

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Outlines Proper Use of Tracking Tech to Maintain HIPAA Compliance

by Jill McKeon

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...

HHS Proposes New Rule to Align 42 CFR Part 2 With HIPAA

by Jill McKeon

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...

OCR Highlights HIPAA Security Rule Incident Response Procedures

by Jill McKeon

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...

GAO Calls on OCR to Educate Patients on Telehealth Security, Privacy Risks

by Jill McKeon

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...

Exploring the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s Right of Access Provisions

by Jill McKeon

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...

HHS Appoints Melanie Fontes Rainer as New OCR Director

by Sarai Rodriguez

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...

US Orgs Have Suffered 5,000 Healthcare Data Breaches Since 2009

by Jill McKeon

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...