The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is sharing the following information to ensure that HIPAA regulated entities are aware of the resources available to assist in preventing, detecting, and mitigating breaches of unsecured protected health information caused by hacking and ransomware. HHS Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center Threat Briefs: https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/asa/ocio/hc3/products/index.html#sector-alerts January 28, 2021 –…
Category: HIPAA
Internal emails raise questions about government’s investigation into Walgreens privacy breach
I am so glad to see a follow-up on this case because I had the same questions about how and why Walgreens did not suffer the same federal penalties as CVS and Rite Aid for the same infringement of HIPAA. My original coverage of this breach is no longer online as the former version of…
Still Missing a New Leader, Former OCR Directors, Experts Offer Advice, Task List
Theresa Defino writes: Issue a final rule revising the privacy regulation and write guidance on the information blocking rule. Formalize the fledgling audit program required by Congress more than 10 years ago. Engage with providers and other HIPAA-regulated entities. And by all means, get cracking. In a series of interviews with RPP, two former Office for…
California Breach Regulations Applicable to Health Care Facilities Align “Breach” Definition with HIPAA, Expand Reporting Obligations, and Clarify Penalty Structure
Jennifer Hennessy, Chloe Talbert, and Jennifer Urban of Foley Lardner write: California clinics, health facilities, home health agencies, and licensed hospices required to report breaches to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) under California’s Health and Safety Code Section 1280.15 (Section 1280.15) are now subject to a new set of regulations. Section 1280.15, which has been in…
Bits ‘n Pieces
Aultman Health Foundation Notifying Patients of Insider-Wrongdoing The Ohio foundation is notifying approximately 7,000 patients that a former employee accessed their records without business need. HOYA Optical Labs of America Notifying Patients of Ransomware Incident As first reported by HealthITSecurity, the Japanese-headquartered firm notified 3,259 U.S. patients of a ransomware incident. The incident occurred in…
Implementing the HIPAA Security Rule: Call for Comments on NIST SP 800-66, Revision 1
Implementing the HIPAA Security Rule: Call for Comments on NIST SP 800-66, Revision 1 The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) is planning to update the NIST Special Publication (SP) 800—66, Revision 1, An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule (“Resource Guide”). NIST is seeking stakeholder input…