In April 2019, DataBreaches reported that Gulf Coast Pain Consultants, LLC d/b/a Clearway Pain Solutions Institute had recently notified patients after discovering on February 20 that their EMR system had been accessed by a third party without authorization. At the time, they disclosed that 35,000 patients had been affected but they did not indicate that…
Nicole K. Macris and Gabriel S. Oberfield of Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC write: Federal healthcare administration undoubtedly will look different in 2025 than it does as we close 2024. In the aftermath of the Republican party victories during this month’s Federal elections – and if the past is prelude – the Federal focus concerning…
Issued on 11/21/2024 | Posted on 11/25/2024 | Report number: A-18-21-08014 To cut to the chase: What OIG Found OCR fulfilled its requirement under the HITECH Act to perform periodic HIPAA audits. However: OCR’s HIPAA audit implementation was too narrowly scoped to effectively assess ePHI protections and demonstrate a reduction of risks within the health care sector. Specifically: OCR’s audits consisted…
Following up on a settlement yesterday that was HHS’s first enforcement action under OCR’s Risk Analysis Initiative, HHS OCR today released a security risk assessment tool. Here is their statement about it: Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) are…
On October 18, Summit Pathology and Summit Pathology Laboratories (“Summit”) in Colorado notified HHS of a breach affecting 1,813,538 patients. By October 21, personal injury law firms started reporting on the breach and recruiting potential plaintiffs. On October 22, Karen Alexander became aware that Summit had sent her and her family members notifications to their…
DataBreaches recently posted a press release from HHS OCR that announced a settlement with Cascade Eye and Skin Centers following a ransomware investigation. Theresa Defino of Report on Patient Privacy (RPP) dug into the incident and investigation more, and her reporting services as a great reminder that HHS’s press releases frequently do not really answer…