Naomi Diaz reports: The American Hospital Association sent a letter to the HHS urging them to clarify whether hospitals and health systems should be providing breach notification to patients if protected health information is compromised due to the Feb. 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare. The March 21 letter, penned to Melanie Fontes Rainer, acting director of the…
Category: HIPAA
Indiana Attorney General Files Suit Against Apria Healthcare
Attorney General Todd Rokita is filing a lawsuit on behalf of the people of Indiana against Apria Healthcare LLC for a massive data breach that impacted at least 42,000 Hoosiers and 1.8 million people nationwide. Apria is a provider of home healthcare equipment and related services across the United States. Apria provides medical equipment to over…
Three recent breach disclosures remind us how seldom timely breach notification is enforced under HITECH
Three recent data breach disclosures involving patient data all exceeded HIPAA’s 60-day deadline to notify HHS and individuals. Yakima Valley Radiology A breach involving the Washington state radiology service was added to Karakurt’s leak site in November 2023 with a listing claiming — without proof — that they had acquired 9.31 GB of files with financial…
NIST Publishes Final “Cybersecurity Resource Guide” on Implementing the HIPAA Security Rule
Jennifer Hennessy and Christopher Taylor of Foley & Lardner write: In an important development for HIPAA-regulated entities looking for practical assistance in understanding, implementing, and enhancing compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized its comprehensive guidance, Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule: A…
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Settles Second Ever Ransomware Cyber-Attack for $40,000 and a Corrective Action Plan with OCR Monitoring
HHS OCR has announced a second enforcement settlement in a ransomware case. The 2019 breach involving Green Ridge Behavioral Health managed to fly mostly under the media radar at the time. DataBreaches was not even aware that it was a ransomware attack as when this site contacted Green Ridge back then to inquire about the…
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Settles Malicious Insider Cybersecurity Investigation for $4.75 Million
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a settlement with Montefiore Medical Center, a non-profit hospital system based in New York City for several potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. OCR is responsible for administering and enforcing health information…