The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this morning (July 8, 2010) held a press conference to announce a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NRPM) concerning the privacy, security and enforcement provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.
The proposed modifications would extend parts of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and [...]
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which is tasked with monitoring breaches of private health information (PHI) records, reports that, since implementation of the breach rule earlier this year, the total reported through June 4, 2010, stands at 93, and this is just for breaches affecting 500 or more records.
The others with fewer than 500 [...]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released rules for the health reform measure that allows parents to keep dependents on their health insurance through age 25, which takes effect Sept. 23.
The rules mandate that pricing for dependents of any age be the same, though it sets no limits on the pricing. Some [...]
There are some cautionary tales and lessons in the strange case of Huping Zhou, 47, who once worked for the UCLA Health System–until he was fired for poor performance–and who now finds himself facing hard time for HIPAA privacy violations.
Here’s where it gets strange for both UCLA and the Chinese surgeon.
First, UCLA gave Zhou advance [...]
Though HITECH (the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health act) took full effect this past Feb. 17, provisions regarding business associates were still vague, as we noted at the time.
Now, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the law’s oversight agency, is promising to issue [...]
As required by law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun publicly listing breaches of private health information (PHI), generally in medical records, when the breach totals 500 or more individuals.
Though breach notification rules under HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) went into effect in September 2009, a grace [...]
Though the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) has already taken effect, the law’s regulations are still in a state of flux at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and have yet to be finalized.
One of the contentious issues that is being weighed internally and through public commentary is the right, or lack thereof, of employers to [...]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released a new version of its "Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law" poster that incorporates new regulations for the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), along with new contact information.
With GINA taking effect for employers on Nov. 21, 2009, it is imperative to make sure [...]
Vaccinations for the H1N1 virus are in full swing across the country with health officials specifically warning those 24 and younger, along with pregnant women, to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Over the weekend, President Obama declared a national emergency that will allow hospitals to obtain waivers and do things like pack more hospital beds [...]
Provisions in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the stimulus package passed in February, created new security and breach rules for those covered by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), but afforded everyone a six-month window to achieve full compliance that runs into 2010.
Nonetheless, [...]
